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CONJURE  IN  AFRICAN- AMERICAN  SOCIETY 


By 
JEFFREY  ELTON  ANDERSON 


A  DISSERTATION  PRESENTED  TO  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT 

OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 
2002 


Copyright  2002 

by 

Jeffrey  Elton  Anderson 


To  my  wife,  Lynn,  and  son,  Michael. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

I  would  like  to  thank  the  members  of  my  doctoral  committee:  Dr.  Bertram  Wyatt- 
Brown,  Dr.  William  F.  Brundage,  Dr.  Jon  Sensbach,  Dr.  David  Hackett,  and  Dr.  Alice 
Freifeld.  Without  their  encouragement  and  suggestions,  I  would  not  be  approaching  the 
end  of  my  graduate  career. 

My  family  deserves  my  thanks,  as  well.  As  important  as  any  of  my  committee 
members  was  my  wife,  Lynn,  who  patiently  read  through  each  and  every  page  of  my 
work,  looking  for  typographical  errors.  I  thank  her  for  putting  up  with  my  lectures  on 
conjure  and  the  difficulties  of  dissertation  writing.  I  also  have  my  mother  and  father, 
Reba  and  William  Anderson,  to  thank  for  several  suggestions. 

I  would  also  like  to  acknowledge  those  who  have  aided  my  research  with 
information  and  professional  know-how.  Carolyn  Morrow  Long  has  been  gracious 
enough  to  give  me  advice,  even  though  she  is  working  on  a  similar  project  herself.  In 
addition,  the  hoodooists,  healers,  spiritual  advisors,  and  others  willing  to  speak  with  me 
have  given  me  insight  by  allowing  me  to  glimpse  African- American  magic  at  work.  In 
particular,  I  would  like  to  recognize  the  contributions  of  Catherine  Yronwode,  Deborah, 
Sallie  Ann  Glassman,  Phoenix  Savage,  Barbara  Gore,  Miriam  Chamani,  Felix  Figueroa, 
F.  L.  Robinson,  Claudia  Williams,  Richard  Miller,  "Pop"  Williams,  Nancy  Rhett, 
Eugenia  Brown,  and  Jonell  and  Jazell  Smith. 


IV 


1 


Finally,  my  faith  in  God  has  encouraged  me  to  persevere  and  given  me  insight  into 
the  workings  of  the  supernatural.  He  deserves  my  thanks  as  well. 


PREFACE 
DEFINING  THE  REALM  OF  INVESTIGATION 

All  of  the  hoodoo  doctors  have  non-conjure  cases.  They  prescribe  folk 
medicine,  "roots",  and  are  for  this  reason  called  "two-headed  doctors"  . . . 
Often  they  are  not  hoodoo  doctors,  but  all  hoodoo  doctors  also  practice 

medicine. 

-Zora  Neale  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America" 

Other  names  for  hoodoo  include  "conjuration,"  "conjure,"  "witchcraft," 
and  "rootwork"  ...  As  you  may  guess  by  now,  it  is  not  at  all  correct  to 
refer  to  African- American  hoodoo  as  "Voodoo." 

-Catherine  Yronwode,  "Hoodoo" 

Prominent  among  Gullah  culture  was  the  belief  in  herbalism,  spiritualism, 
and  black  magic.  While  in  other  places  it  was  called  "ubia,"  "voodoo,"  or 
"santeria,"  the  Gullah  called  it  "the  root." 

-Roger  Pinckney,  Blue  Roots 


"Witches,"  "two-heads,"  "goopher  doctors,"  "Voodoo  priests,"  "root  doctors," 
and  other  masters  of  the  occult  have  long  peopled  African- Americans'  supernatural 
world.  As  the  above  quotations  suggest,  however,  no  two  authors  agree  on  what  each  of 
these  terms  denotes.  Some  draw  sharp  lines  among  root  doctors,  goopher  doctors, 
Voodoo  priests,  and  other  classes  of  magic  workers.  Others  simply  condense  all  of  these 
characters  into  a  single  group,  usually  known  as  "hoodoo  doctors"  or  "conjurers." 
Neither  approach  is  entirely  satisfactory.  It  is  best  to  define  a  conjurer  as  a  professional 
magic  practitioner,  who  typically  receives  payment  in  return  for  his  or  her  goods  and 
services.  Still,  three  vital  questions  remain  unanswered.  First,  what  separates  conjure 
from  syncretic  religions,  like  Voodoo?  Second,  what  sets  conjure  apart  from  lower-level 


VI 


supernaturalism,  commonly  known  as  "superstition?"1  Finally,  how  are  witches,  two- 
heads,  goopher  doctors,  rootworkers,  and  the  like  related  to  conjurers? 

That  which  properly  denotes  conjure  falls  between  two  extremes  of  religion 
proper  and  low-level  supernaturalism.  At  one  end  of  the  spectrum  of  African- American 
beliefs  lie  such  syncretic  religions  as  Voodoo  and  Santeria.2  Conjure  is  broader  than 
these  faiths.  Functionally,  syncretic  religions  seek  to  honor  the  gods  and  spirits  who 
people  the  believers'  world.  For  example,  both  Voodoo  and  Santeria  have  historically 
practiced  sacrifice  in  order  to  please  such  deities  as  Papa  Legba  and  Ogun.  Conjure, 
however,  does  not  pursue  such  lofty  aims.  Instead,  conjuration  seeks  to  accomplish 
practical  objectives  through  the  use  of  the  spirit  world.3  While  conjurers  may  consider 
their  religion  to  be  Christian,  this  does  not  prevent  some  of  them  from  calling  on  Papa 
Legba  to  perform  a  specific  deed.  Likewise,  Christian  conjurers  might  try  to  compel  God 
to  bend  to  their  will  through  selective  Bible  reading.  For  example,  in  a  spell  recorded  by 


'The  term  "superstition"  has  fallen  out  of  favor  with  most  scholars. 
"Supernaturalism,"  which  has  taken  the  place  of  "superstition"  in  most  recent  works, 
remains  too  vague  to  be  useful,  encompassing  a  wide  range  of  folk  beliefs,  including 
conjure.  Thus,  in  this  preface,  I  have  retained  the  use  of  "superstition"  simply  for  its 
value  as  a  description  for  low-level  supernaturalism. 

2The  following  holds  true  for  other  Afro-European  syncretic  religions  present  in 
the  United  States,  such  as  Brazilian  Candomble,  Trinidadian  Shango,  Jamaican  Obeah, 
and  home-grown  Spiritualism. 

3For  a  similar  argument,  see  Newbell  Niles  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs  of  the  Southern 
Negro,  Patterson  Smith  Reprint  Series  in  Criminology,  Law  Enforcement,  and  Social 
Problems,  No.  22  (Chapel  Hill:  University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1926;  reprint, 
Montclair:  Patterson  Smith  Publishing  Corporation,  1968),  174-177. 

vii 


Zora  Neale  Hurston  conjure  clients  recited  Psalm  120  during  "court  scrapes"  in  order  to 

guarantee  success.4 

In  addition  to  conjure's  functional  distinctiveness,  it  also  lacks  the  developed 
theology  of  syncretic  religions.  Though  neither  Santeria  nor  Voodoo  holds  to  rigid 
dogmas,  their  basic  tenets  remain  much  the  same  for  all  practitioners.  For  instance, 
Voodoo  believers  everywhere  recognize  the  existence  of  the  supreme  creator  god, 
Damballah  Wedo,  who  takes  little  part  in  human  affairs.  Likewise,  believers  in  Santeria, 
whether  they  live  in  Cuba,  Miami,  and  New  York  City,  place  great  emphasis  on  the 
powers  of  the  dead.  In  contrast,  while  the  majority  of  conjurers  engage  in  many  of  the 
same  practices  and  use  similar  materials,  such  as  graveyard  dirt,  bones,  and  plant 
materials,  their  uses  differ  widely  from  practitioner  to  practitioner.  Furthermore,  some 
conjurers  claim  to  receive  their  power  from  God.  Others  credit  familiars  or  animistic 
spirits.  Conjure  is  far  less  systematic  than  even  undogmatic  syncretic  religions.5 

If  religion  delineates  the  upper  boundary  of  conjure,  supernaturalism  marks  the 
lower.  The  essential  difference  between  conjure  and  supernaturalism  rests  on  the  relative 
amount  of  specialized  knowledge  or  abilities  required  for  their  practice.  For  example, 
nineteenth-century  Georgia  blacks  believed  that  lending  salt  or  red  pepper  was  bad  luck. 


4Zora  Neale  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  with  a  Preface  by  Franz  Boas,  Foreword  by 
Arnold  Rampersad,  and  Afterword  by  Henry  Louis  Gates,  Jr.  (New  York:  Harper 
Perennial,  1990),  275. 

5See  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  and  Carl  Carmer,  Stars  Fell  on  Alabama,  with  an 
Introduction  by  J.  Wayne  Flynt,  (Tuscaloosa  and  London:  University  of  Alabama,  1985), 
215-222.  For  accounts  of  syncretic  religions,  see  Milo  Riguad,  Secrets  of  Voodoo,  trans, 
by  Robert  B.  Cross  (New  York:  Arco,  1969;  reprint,  San  Francisco:  City  Lights  Books, 
1985),  43-78,  and  George  Brandon,  Santeria  from  Africa  to  the  New  World:  The  Dead 
Sell  Memories  (Bloomington  and  Indianapolis:  Indiana  University  Press,  1993),  79-120. 

viii 


Such  folk  beliefs  required  no  peculiar  occult  aptitude.  On  the  other  hand,  few  African- 
Americans  possessed  the  supernatural  skills  to  make  one  of  the  complex  "luck  balls"  that 
nineteenth-century  Missouri  blacks  fashioned  from  a  combination  of  human  hair,  ashes, 
graveyard  dust,  pig  blood,  and  tail  feathers  from  a  crowing  hen.  Such  complex,  and 
allegedly  more  potent,  spells  have  traditionally  been  left  up  to  hoodooists.6 

There  are  two  major  exceptions  to  the  general  reliance  on  local  conjurers  for  full- 
blown magic.  The  first  began  with  the  rise  of  mail-order  conjure  companies  during  the 
twentieth-century.  Such  businesses  often  sell  "do-it-yourself  kits  which  promise  to 
provide  anyone  with  magical  powers.  A  second  case  is  the  many  traditional  practices 
designed  to  remedy  and  prevent  conjure,  such  as  the  custom  of  sweeping  and  scouring 
recently-occupied  homes  to  cleanse  them  from  evil  forces.  These  modes  of  supposed 
protection  rarely  reach  the  level  of  complexity  commonly  attached  to  the  conjurer's  art. 
Nevertheless,  as  foils  of  evil  magic,  they  must  be  classed  as  a  form  of  counter-conjure.7 

Having  set  the  boundaries  to  what  properly  constitutes  conjure,  what  are  we  to 
make  of  the  plethora  of  words  indiscriminately  used  as  synonyms?  This  question  must  be 
answered  in  three  parts.  First,  "hoodoo,"  and  the  lesser-known  "mojo,"  "tricking,"  and 


6Roland  Steiner,  "Superstitions  and  Beliefs  from  Central  Georgia,"  Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore  12  (1899):  263;  Mary  Alicia  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales  as  Told  among 
the  Negroes  of  the  Southwest,  with  an  Introduction  by  Charles  Godfrey  Leland  (New 
York  and  London:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1893),  174. 

7Steiner,  "Superstitions  and  Beliefs  from  Central  Georgia,"  263.  For  one  example 
of  a  mail-order  curio  company,  see  the  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company,  which  can  be  found 
online  at  http://www.luckymojo.com. 

ix 


"fixing"  are  readily  interchangeable  with  "conjure."  The  only  differences  among  the 
terms  are  regional  and  personal  preferences.8 

Second,  some  authors  treat  "witch"  as  a  synonym  for  "conjurer,"  even  though 
African- Americans  sometimes  distinguish  between  the  two  terms.  While  conjurers  are 
human,  the  same  cannot  be  said  for  witches,  who  are  sometimes  described  as  nonhuman 
beings  who  ride  lightning  and  give  birth  to  vampires.  In  some  accounts,  witches  also 
engage  in  practices  below  the  dignity  of  most  conjurers,  such  as  riding  sleepers  and 
stealing  milk  from  cows.  At  the  same  time,  witches  can  usually  transform  themselves 
into  a  variety  of  animals,  an  ability  not  possessed  by  many  conjurers.9 

Finally,  a  variety  of  other  terms  refer  to  specific  aspects  of  African- American 
magic.  The  most  common  of  such  semi-synonyms  for  "conjurer"  is  "rootworker."  Some 
scholars  have  argued  that  rootworkers  are  a  distinct  class,  differentiated  from  conjurers 
through  their  use  of  herbal  remedies  to  cure  medical  problems.  Hoodoo,  they  maintain, 


8Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  209-222;  Catherine  Yronwode,  proprietor  of  Lucky 
Mojo  Curio  Company,  interview  by  author,  15  January  2001,  phone  call  between 
Gainesville,  FL  and  Forestville,  CA,  notes,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL; 
Catherine  Yronwode,  "Hoodoo,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company  Website,  1995-1999, 
<http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoohistory.html>  (20  May  2002).  Many  African- 
Americans  view  "hoodoo"  and  "Voodoo"  as  synonyms,  using  both  to  refer  to  magic.  The 
distinction  between  the  proper  usage  of  two  terms  is  a  modern  one,  promulgated  by 
Voodoo  believers  who  wish  to  identify  their  faith  as  a  legitimate  religion  and  hoodoo 
practitioners  attempting  to  disassociate  themselves  from  the  religious  connotations  and 
negative  stereotypes  attached  to  Voodoo. 

9Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  209-222;  Tom  Peete  Cross,  "Witchcraft  in  North 
Carolina,"  Studies  in  Philology  16  (1919):217-287;  Richard  M.  Dorson,  ed.,  Negro 
Folktales  in  Michigan  (Cambridge:  Harvard  University  Press,  1956),  101;  Catherine 
Yronwode,  interview  by  author. 

x 


seeks  to  improve  spiritual  conditions.10  As  Zora  Neale  Hurston  has  pointed  out,  however, 
"Nearly  all  of  the  conjure  doctors  practice  'roots,'  but  some  of  the  root  doctors  are  not 
hoodoo  doctors."11  Thus,  rootwork  is  an  aspect  of  virtually  all  conjurers'  repertoire. 
While  some  root  doctors  understand  their  profession  in  light  of  modern  science,  many 
hoodooists  simply  attribute  herbal  remedies'  efficacy  to  magic. 

Some  authors  distinguish  specialists  within  the  broader  field  of  conjure.  For 
instance,  Catherine  Yronwode,  owner  of  the  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company,  argues  that 
conjurers  can  be  divided  into  three  categories:  hoodooists,  healers,  and  readers. 
According  to  this  categorization,  readers  only  tell  clients'  futures.  In  contrast,  healers  use 
herbal  medicine  to  cure  illnesses.  Hoodooists,  meanwhile,  are  specialists  in  evil  and  its 
cure.  Many  conjurers,  however,  practice  all  three  professions,  rendering  any  distinctions 
vague  at  best.12  Similarly,  some  conjurers  use  epitaphs  like  "doctor"  to  imply  that  they 
perform  only  good  magic.  Historically,  this  distinction  has  been  largely  fictitious,  a  way 
for  conjurers  to  make  themselves  more  acceptable  to  clients  while  demonizing  their  rivals 
as  workers  of  evil.  Of  course,  some  conjurers  do  specialize.  This  is  most  common  with 


10See  Melville  J.  Herskovits,  The  Myth  of  the  Negro  Past,  with  an  Introduction  by 
Sidney  W.  Mintz  (Boston:  Beacon  Press,  1990),  224-251,  for  the  most  famous  author  to 
draw  this  distinction. 

"Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  281. 

12 Yronwode,  interview  by  author.  In  the  last  few  decades  "psychic"  fortunetellers 
have  also  entered  the  scene.  While  these  practitioners  fulfill  the  same  function  as 
traditional  readers,  they  claim  to  use  a  special  mental  gift  to  foretell  the  future  rather  than 
such  traditional  tools  as  playing  cards  or  bones. 

xi 


readers,  who  often  predict  the  future  without  offering  the  possibility  of  changing  it.  Such 
individuals,  however,  are  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule.13 

Other  terms  commonly  used  to  designate  conjurers  are  less  problematic.  For 
instance,  "goopher  doctor"  refers  to  the  strong  connection  between  hoodoo  and  the  dead. 
"Goopher"  is  a  synonym  for  "grave,"  most  commonly  used  in  reference  to  "goopher 
dust,"  which  is  dirt  taken  from  a  cemetery.  Another  equivalent  of  "conjure  doctor"  is 
"two-head."  According  to  Hurston,  this  term  refers  to  hoodooists'  ability  to  deal  in  both 
magic  and  herbal  medicine.  Another  explanation  is  that  it  reflects  a  belief  that  conjurers 
possess  two  souls.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  most  common  appellations  applied  to 
conjurers.  Although  many  others  exist,  they  appear  only  rarely  and  are  usually  confined 
to  specific  localities.14 

The  distinctions  outlined  above  are  somewhat  arbitrary.  The  borders  among 
religion,  magic,  and  lower  forms  of  supernaturalism  are  porous  and  blurred.  While  one 
person  may  differentiate  between  healers  and  conjurers,  another  may  not.  Still,  an 
understanding  of  the  terms  is  necessary  for  their  study.  Moreover,  these  distinctions 
reflect  genuine,  though  fluid  and  often  indistinct,  differences  that  must  be  appreciated  in 
order  to  effectively  examine  the  practice  of  conjure,  its  origins,  regional  distinctions,  and 
evolution. 


1  Catherine  Yronwode,  interview  by  author. 

14Zora  Neale  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  Journal  of  American  Folklore  44 
(1931):  320;  Roland  Steiner,  "Braziel  Robinson  Possessed  of  Two  Spirits,"  Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore  14  (1901):  226-228. 

xii 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

gage 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv 

PREFACE 

DEFINING  THE  REALM  OF  INVESTIGATION vi 

ABSTRACT xiv 

INTRODUCTION 

THE  INVISIBLE  CONJURER:  THE  DISAPPEARANCE 

OF  HOODOO  FROM  CONCEPTIONS  OF  BLACK  SOCIETY 1 

CHAPTER 

1  THE  CONJURERS'  WORLD:  THE  SOCIAL  CONTEXT 

OF  HOODOO  IN  NINETEENTH-CENTURY  BLACK  LIFE 42 

2  THE  CONJURERS  THEMSELVES: 

PERFORMING  AND  MARKETING  HOODOO 68 

3  VODU  AND  MINKISI:  THE  AFRICAN 

ROOTS  OF  BLACK  AMERICAN  MAGIC Ill 

4  WITCHES  AND  MEDICINE  MEN:  EUROPEAN  AND 

NATIVE  AMERICAN  BUILDING  BLOCKS  OF  HOODOO 142 

5  CONJURE  SHOPS  AND  MANUFACTURING:  CHANGES 

IN  HOODOO  INTO  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 182 

6  THE  MAGIC  CONTINUES:  HOODOO  AT  THE 

TURN  OF  THE  TWENTY-FIRST  CENTURY 221 

CONCLUSION 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  CONJURE  IN  AFRICAN-AMERICAN  SOCIETY 250 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 294 


Xlll 


Abstract  of  Dissertation  Presented  to  the  Graduate  School 

of  the  University  of  Florida  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the 

Requirements  for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 

CONJURE  IN  AFRICAN-AMERICAN  SOCIETY 

By 

Jeffrey  Elton  Anderson 

December  2002 

Chair:  Professor  Bertram  Wyatt-Brown 
Major  Department:  History 

"Conjure  in  African- American  Society"  is  an  examination  of  the  magical  beliefs 
of  black  Americans,  beginning  in  the  antebellum  period  and  continuing  to  the  present.  Its 
objective  is  to  demonstrate  the  historical  importance  of  conjure  in  African- American  life, 
making  it  a  worthy  topic  of  further  study.  The  dissertation's  secondary  concern  is  to  trace 
the  origins  and  evolution  of  hoodoo  over  time. 

The  Introduction  is  a  historiographic  essay  identifying  a  series  of  waves  in 
scholarly  concern  with  conjure,  which  eventually  led  to  the  gradual  disappearance  of 
hoodoo  from  understandings  of  black  society.  The  first  four  chapters  address  conjure 
during  the  nineteenth  century.  Chapter  1  lays  a  groundwork  for  the  rest  of  the  study  by 
describing  the  reputed  powers  of  hoodoo.  Chapter  2  examines  the  importance  of  the 
conjurer  in  nineteenth-century  black  life.  The  next  two  chapters  look  at  the  African  roots 
and  European  and  Native  American  influences  on  hoodoo.  The  last  two  chapters  focus 
on  African-American  magic  during  the  twentieth  and  twenty-first  centuries.  Chapter  5 

xiv 


examines  the  transformation  of  traditional  conjure  into  the  spiritual  products  industry. 
The  sixth  chapter  follows  the  course  of  hoodoo  into  the  twentieth  century,  focusing  on  the 
growing  acceptance  of  hoodoo  among  both  blacks  and  whites.  The  Conclusion  completes 
the  dissertation  by  evaluating  the  influence  of  conjure  on  black  society. 


xv 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  INVISIBLE  CONJURER: 

THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  HOODOO  FROM  CONCEPTIONS  OF  BLACK 

SOCIETY 

Thomas  Nelson  Page,  one  of  the  major  architects  of  the  "moonlight  and 
magnolias"  myth  of  the  Old  South,  published  his  most  famous  novel,  Red  Rock,  in  1899. 
Set  during  Reconstruction,  its  pages  are  filled  with  the  standard  characters  of  Page's 
genre:  heroic  Southern  planters,  dutiful  union  soldiers,  and  depraved  carpetbaggers.  One 
villain,  Dr.  Moses,  is  particularly  overdrawn  in  his  depiction  of  his  physical  as  well  as 
moral  perversity.  Rachel  Welch,  the  novel's  heroine,  observes  that,  "His  chin  stuck  so 
much  forward  that  the  lower  teeth  were  much  outside  of  the  upper,  or,  at  least,  the  lower 
jaw  was;  for  the  teeth  looked  as  though  they  had  been  ground  down,  and  his  gums,  as  he 
grinned,  showed  as  blue  on  the  edges  as  if  he  had  painted  them."1 

Moses  is  a  "trick-doctor,"  a  term  which  Page  felt  no  need  to  define.  Modern 
readers  are  left  to  question  why  the  bizarrely  misshapen  Moses  should  be  such  a  threat  to 
the  white  population.  Other  contemporary  works  provide  answers.  For  instance,  Philip 
A.  Bruce,  author  of  the  1889  work,  The  Plantation  Negro  as  a  Freedman,  described  the 
trick-doctor  as  "a  man  whose  only  employment . . .  lies  in  the  practice  of  the  art  of 
witchcraft,"  who  "is  invested  with  even  more  importance  than  the  preacher,  since  he  is 


'Thomas  Nelson  Page,  Red  Rock:  A  Chronicle  of  Reconstruction  (New  York: 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1898),  292. 

1 


2 
regarded  with  the  respect  that  fear  incites."2  Moreover,  Moses'  physical  appearance  is 
typical  of  the  numerous  descriptions  of  trick-doctors  which  appeared  during  the  late 
nineteenth-  and  early  twentieth-centuries.  For  instance,  in  "Observations  on  the  Practice 
of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  Roland  Steiner  recorded  in  1901  the  African- American  folk 
belief  that  the  spells  of  blue-gummed  blacks  invariably  caused  death.  Likewise,  folklorist 
Mary  Alicia  Owen,  using  the  language  of  her  informant,  in  1891,  described  a  legendary 
"witcheh-man"  as  "de  mos'  uglies'  man  in  de  worl',  wid  er  whopple-jaw  an'  er  har'-lip, 
sidesen  er  lop  side  an'  er  crooked  laig  an'  one  eye  dat  wuz  des  lak  fiah  an'  one  dat  was 
daid."3  In  short,  published  accounts  of  African- American  magic  were  so  common  during 
the  era  that  Page  had  no  need  to  explain  what  he  meant  by  "trick  doctor."4  After  Page's 
time,  however,  literary  and  academic  interest  in  black  sorcery  declined.5  The  net  result 
has  been  that  the  trick-doctor,  also  known  as  the  hoodoo  doctor  or  conjurer,  has  become 
virtually  invisible  in  most  Americans'  conceptions  of  black  society,  even  while  the 
vocation  of  conjuring  lives  on  in  many  African- American  communities.6 


2Philip  A.  Bruce,  The  Plantation  Negro  as  a  Freedman:  Observations  on  His 
Character,  Condition,  and  Prospects  in  Virginia  (New  York  and  London:  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  1889),  115. 

3Roland  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore  14  (1901):  177;  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  219. 

4For  a  similar  description  of  conjurers,  see  Leonora  Herron,  "Conjuring  and 
Conjure  Doctors,"  Southern  Workman  24  (1891):  117-118. 

5For  the  most  important  passages  addressing  Dr.  Moses,  see  Page,  60,  103,  287, 
291-293,356-358.  Herron,  117-118. 

6Though  hoodoo  survives  in  the  black  community,  it  is  not  the  pervasive  force  it 
once  was.  Today,  widespread  belief  in  its  powers  is  restricted  to  confined  areas,  such  as 
the  South  Carolina  Sea  Islands  and  New  Orleans. 


3 
How  can  one  explain  such  drastic  shifts  in  attention  to  conjure?  The  answer  lies 
in  intellectual  and  cultural  shifts  over  the  course  of  the  late  nineteenth  and  twentieth 
centuries,  which  have  changed  the  ways  that  both  blacks  and  whites  have  constructed 
identity.  Between  the  Civil  War  and  World  War  II,  Americans  in  general  and  Southern 
whites  in  particular  feared  losing  their  cultural  identity  to  the  homogenizing  effects  of 
industrial  capitalism,  and  conjure  was  one  expression  of  peculiarity  that  they  used  to 
resist  the  threatened  loss  of  national  and  regional  distinctiveness.  Once  war  catapulted 
America  to  the  forefront  of  world  politics  and  economics,  regional  distinctions  became 
less  important  than  national  pride  and  a  united  front  against  communism.  For  blacks, 
attention  to  hoodoo  was  likewise  a  question  of  identity.  Unlike  whites,  however,  they 
tended  to  view  hoodoo  as  a  negative  feature  of  their  society.  Its  practice,  they  thought, 
would  have  to  be  stamped  out  before  they  could  hope  to  achieve  equality.  Recently,  the 
influence  of  the  closely- linked  forces  of  cultural  pluralism,  postmodernism,  and  the  New 
Age  movement  and  rising  black  assertiveness  have  made  magic  an  acceptable  expression 
of  spirituality  for  many.  Nevertheless,  conjure  remains  an  understudied  facet  of  black 
society.7 

Before  the  Civil  War,  southerners,  white  and  black,  were  well  aware  of  the 
existence  of  conjure.  For  instance,  in  a  diary  entry  for  March  3,  1816,  South  Carolinian 
George  Izard  recorded  an  encounter  with  a  sickly  Mr.  Perkins,  who  explained  his  illness 


7For  works  on  the  mechanics  of  identity  construction  and  cultural  nationalism,  see 
Benedict  Andersen,  Imagined  Communities:  Reflections  on  the  Origin  and  Spread  of 
Nationalism  (London  and  New  York:  Verso,  1993);  Eric  Hobsbawm  and  Terence  Ranger, 
eds.,  The  Invention  of  Tradition  (Cambridge  and  New  York:  Cambridge  University  Press, 
1983);  Kathleen  Neils  Conzen,  David  A.  Gerber,  Ewa  Morawska,  George  E.  Pozzetta, 
Rudolph  J.  Vecoli,  "The  Invention  of  Ethnicity:  A  Perspective  from  the  U.  S.  A.," 
Journal  of  American  Ethnic  History  12  (1992):  3-41. 


4 
as  a  result  of  a  spell  cast  by  a  spumed  admirer.    After  physicians'  remedies  failed  him, 
Mr.  Perkins  turned  to  conjure.  Izard's  experience  was  far  from  unique.  Many  whites 
learned  of  conjure  from  their  slaves.  Such  was  the  case  with  Thaddeus  Norris,  author  of 
"Negro  Superstitions."  Writing  five  years  after  the  Civil  War,  he  admitted  that  he  had 
"firmly  believed  in  witches"  as  a  child,  a  conviction  he  acquired  through  his  close 
relationship  to  an  elderly  "house  servant."8  Also,  Frederick  Douglass,  most  prominent  of 
black  abolitionists,  included  an  account  of  hoodoo  in  his  Narrative,  spreading  knowledge 
of  the  practice  to  northern  readers.  Nevertheless,  few  observers  commented  on  the 
practice  beyond  pointing  it  out  as  a  sign  of  slaves'  intellectual  backwardness.  Slaves 
were  to  be  either  worked  or  freed,  not  studied  for  their  culture.9 

Immediately  following  the  war,  Southern  whites  were  too  busy  restoring 
Democratic  control  of  their  states  to  devote  increased  interest  to  sectional  identity, 
certainly  not  in  reference  to  black  folk  religion.  After  all,  their  recent  experience  of 
military  defeat  and  occupation  left  no  room  to  doubt  their  distinctiveness.  One  of  the  few 
whites  to  address  black  folk  religions  was  Thaddeus  Norris,  who  bluntly  wrote,  "The 
more  refined  a  people,  the  more  interesting  its  mythical  legends.  Those  of  the  Caucasian 
race  are  attractive;  while  those  of  the  negroes  are  repulsive,  especially  when  connected 


8Thaddeus  Norris,  "Negro  Superstitions,"  Lippincott  's  Monthly  Magazine  6 
(1870):  95. 

'George  Izard,  "Diary  of  a  Journey  by  George  Izard,  1815-1816,"  The  South 
Carolina  Historical  Magazine  53  (1952):  160;  Frederick  Douglass,  Narrative  of  the  Life 
of  Frederick  Douglass  (New  York:  Dover  Publications,  1995),  41-42,  47. 


with  their  heathenish  religions."10  Literate  blacks  generally  felt  the  same  way.  A 
selection  of  letters  on  conjure  published  in  The  Southern  Workman  provides  evidence. 
This  newspaper  was  associated  with  Virginia's  Hampton  Institute,  one  of  the  nation's 
oldest  historically-black  schools.  In  1878,  the  school  elicited  reports  on  the  level  of 
superstition  among  the  freedmen  from  its  students  and  graduates.  The  response  was  over 
one  hundred  letters,  only  six  of  which  saw  print.  Most  of  the  contributors  frankly  stated 
that  conjure  was  a  negative,  but  common,  feature  of  black  society.  One  author,  referred 
to  as  "L."  in  the  printed  version  of  his  letter,  was  particularly  harsh  in  his  denunciation  of 
hoodoo.  He  asserted,  "Conjure  doctors  are  not  so  numerous  now  as  they  were  before  our 
race  became  so  enlightened,  but  still  they  are  too  numerous.  They  are  a  curse  to  their 
race."11  Overcoming  racist  oppression  and  abject  poverty  through  education  was  much 
more  important  to  blacks  than  questions  of  culture.  With  both  whites  and  blacks 
disgusted  by  Negro  ignorance,  few  were  interested  in  more  than  denouncing  conjure. 

Since  Reconstruction,  interest  in  conjure  has  generally  followed  a  wavelike 
pattern  of  increasing  and  decreasing  interest.  Since  the  end  of  Republican  rule  in  the 
South,  interest  in  conjure  has  crested  three  times.  The  first  of  these  upturns  began  in  the 
mid- 1880s  and  persisted  until  shortly  after  1900.  Following  the  turn  of  the  century, 
writings  appeared  less  and  less  frequently  until  the  1920s,  when  a  new  wave  of  interest 
emerged.  It  had  passed  by  the  early  1940s,  when  conjure  once  again  faded  from  public 


10Norris,  90-91 .  See  also,  "The  Religious  Life  of  the  Negro  Slave,"  Harper 's  New 
Monthly  Magazine  27  (1863):  816-825,  which  mentions  conjuring  as  an  important  part  of 
blacks'  religion. 

"R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  "Conjure  Doctors  in  the  South,"  The  Southern  Workman  1 
(1878):  30-31;  W.  and  C,  "About  the  Conjuring  Doctors,"  The  Southern  Workman  7 
(1878):  38-39. 


view.  The  second  trough  was  much  deeper  than  the  first.  With  occasional  exceptions, 
few  works  on  hoodoo  appeared  until  the  1970s.  At  that  point,  a  new  respect  for  black 
folk  beliefs,  including  conjure,  arose. 

As  local  distinctions  seemed  threatened  by  industrial  homogenization  following 
the  Civil  War,  whites  searched  for  regional  peculiarities  in  order  to  construct  a  distinct 
identity.  Corporatism,  national  advertising,  and  consumerism  threatened  to  transform  the 
South  into  a  carbon  copy  of  the  North.12  It  is  no  coincidence  that  articles  on  conjure 
peaked  in  the  1890s,  when  a  new  generation  which  had  never  owned  slaves  or  fought  in 
the  Civil  War  grew  to  prominence.  In  addition  to  ending  the  most  important  distinction 
between  the  sections,  emancipation  had  destroyed  the  paternalistic  labor  system  in  which 
blacks  and  whites  lived  and  worked  side  by  side,  occupying  the  same  geographic  space. 
As  the  temporary  gains  of  Reconstruction  faded  during  the  last  two  decades  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  Jim  Crow  took  their  place,  eventually  resulting  in  a  rigid  system  of 
economic  and  social  segregation.  As  a  result,  blacks  and  whites  lived  their  lives  ever 
more  separately,  and  each  culture  became  less  familiar  to  the  other.  Whites  had  long 
considered  blacks  a  backward  and  superstitious  people.  Safely  cut  off  from  political  or 
economic  power,  blacks'  folk  beliefs  could  now  be  used  to  bolster  white  superiority  and 
regional  distinctiveness.  To  white  authors,  the  hoodoo  doctor  became  a  powerful  image 


12See  Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson  Lears,  No  Place  of  Grace:  Antimodernism  and 
the  Transformation  of  American  Culture,  1880-1920  (New  York:  Pantheon  Books,  1981). 
Lears  argues  that  individuals  turned  to  antimodern  pursuits,  such  as  the  arts  and  crafts 
movement,  orientalism,  medievalism,  and  religious  mysticism  as  ways  of  coping  with  the 
social  and  cultural  onslaughts  of  modernity.  In  Norman  Pollack,  The  Populist  Response 
to  Industrial  America:  Midwestern  Populist  Thought  (Cambridge:  Harvard  University 
Press,  1962),  the  author  applied  a  similar  argument  to  midwestern  Populism,  which  he 
believed  was  a  revolt  against  industrial  capitalism. 


7 
of  the  Southern  past,  conjuring  up  images  of  aristocratic  planters  and  their  happy,  but 
dependent,  "servants."  Moreover,  by  describing  blacks  as  a  backward  people,  whites 
defined  what  their  race  was  not.  At  the  same  time,  African- Americans  began  to  develop  a 
class  system.  As  members  of  the  small  but  growing  middle  class  gained  educations  and 
quickly  adopted  the  scientific  outlook  and  social  Darwinism  of  the  larger  American 
society,  they  confidently  expected  conjure  to  disappear.13  In  fact,  according  to  many 
blacks'  ideology  of  racial  uplift,  such  backward  features  of  black  society  would  have  to 
give  way  before  the  race  could  hope  to  advance.  Thus,  while  whites  used  black  folk 
beliefs  as  a  symbol  of  their  own  past  glories,  African-Americans  rejected  whites'  self- 
serving  characterization  of  blacks  as  "superstitious."14 

The  Local  Color  literary  movement  typified  whites'  construction  of  identity.  In 
the  South,  this  impulse  often  found  expression  in  collections  of  black  folklore,  relayed  in 
the  dialect  of  the  plantation  "darkie."  Most  prominent  among  these  works  was  Joel 
Chandler  Harris'  1880  book,  Uncle  Remus:  His  Songs  and  His  Sayings,  a  collection  of 
African- American  animal  stories  ostensibly  related  by  an  elderly  former  slave  to  a  child 


13For  an  excellent  discussion  of  the  extent  to  which  the  academic  world  was 
science-centered  during  the  late  nineteenth  century,  see  Peter  Novick,  That  Noble  Dream: 
The  'Objectivity  Question '  and  the  American  Historical  Profession  (New  York: 
Cambridge  University  Press,  1988),  31-44. 

14For  works  on  the  development  of  segregation  and  resistance  to  it,  see  Robert  J. 
Norrell,  Reaping  the  Whirlwind:  The  Civil  Rights  Movement  in  Tuskegee  (New  York: 
Knopf,  1985),  and  C.  Vann  Woodward,  The  Strange  Career  of  Jim  Crow  (New  York: 
Oxford  University  Press,  1957).  For  excellent  examples  of  the  strength  racial  uplift 
ideology,  see  The  Southern  Workman.  Founded  in  1872,  its  early  issues  ceaselessly 
promote  self-improvement  of  blacks  and  Indians. 


who  he  had  befriended.15  Over  the  next  twenty-five  years,  numerous  authors  sought  to 
duplicate  Harris'  success,  with  the  result  that  black  folklore  became  staple  reading  for 
white  American  youths  until  well  into  the  twentieth  century.16  In  practice,  Local  Color 
works  provided  a  bridge  between  the  romanticism  of  the  early  nineteenth  century  and  the 
realism  which  came  to  characterize  the  twentieth.  As  such,  it  was  the  perfect  vehicle  for 
whites  to  record  the  exoticism  of  the  plantation  past,  dovetailing  nicely  with  the  chivalric 
tales  of  Thomas  Nelson  Page.  At  the  same  time,  it  allowed  authors  to  glorify  the  region's 
race  relations  by  providing  "records"  of  friendly  interaction  between  superior  whites  and 
dependent  blacks  through  the  medium  of  African- American  stories  told  in  dialect.  In  an 
age  when  white  southerners  sought  sectional  reconciliation  while  maintaining  their 
uniqueness,  Local  Color  helped  them  write  their  past  and  present  racial  systems  in  a  way 
that  made  their  acceptance  by  the  rest  of  the  nation  more  palatable.17 

The  growth  of  the  social  sciences,  especially  professionalized  folklore,  provided 
another  vehicle  for  white  southerners'  search  for  identity.  Brought  to  prominence  in 
Europe  by  Jacob  and  Wilhelm  Grimm  during  the  early  and  middle  nineteenth  century, 
folklore  quickly  became  a  popular  pursuit.18  By  the  late  1870s,  folklorists  had  begun  to 


15Joel  Chandler  Harris,  Uncle  Remus:  His  Songs  and  His  Sayings,  new  and  revised 
edition,  with  illustrations  by  Arthur  Burdette  Frost  (New  York:  Grosset  and  Dunlap, 
1921). 

16For  two  of  the  more  well-known  of  Harris'  imitators  see,  Charles  Colcock  Jones, 
Jr.,  Gullah  Folktales  from  the  Georgia  Coast,  with  a  Foreword  by  Susan  Miller  Williams 
(Athens  and  London:  University  of  Georgia  Press,  2000),  and  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales. 

17For  an  account  of  scholarly  efforts  to  erase  sectionalism,  see  Novick,  72-80. 

18See  Jacob  and  Wilhelm  Grimm,  The  Complete  Fairy  Tales  of  the  Brothers 
Grimm,  trans,  and  with  an  Introduction  by  Jack  Zipes,  with  illustrations  by  John  B. 
Gruelle  (New  York:  Bantam  Books,  1992). 


professionalize  their  field.  One  of  the  earliest  signs  of  this  development  was  the  founding 
of  the  English  Folklore  Society  in  1878.  Ten  years  later,  American  folklorists  created 
their  own  national  organization,  the  American  Folklore  Society.  The  International 
Expositions  of  1889, 1891,  and  1893,  which  stressed  the  importance  of  progress,  hosted 
folklore  congresses  in  order  to  emphasize  the  backwardness  of  primitive  societies,  while 
preserving  their  beliefs  for  future  generations.  During  the  1891  exposition,  Mary  Alicia 
Owen  helped  bring  conjure  to  scholarly  attention  by  presenting  a  paper  entitled  "Among 
the  Voodoos,"  describing  the  magical  practices  of  Missouri's  blacks.19  The  newly- 
founded  Journal  of  American  Folklore,  organ  of  the  American  Folklore  Society, 
published  numerous  articles  on  conjure  and  related  practices  throughout  its  early 
volumes.20  Following  an  article  on  Haitian  Voodoo  in  its  1888  inaugural  issue,  the 
journal  published  W.  W.  Newell's  "Reports  of  Voodoo  Worship  in  Hayti  and  Louisiana" 
in  its  second  volume.  The  journal  did  not  confine  itself  to  Voodoo  proper,  however,  and 
over  the  next  decade  and  a  half,  numerous  brief  notes  and  full-length  articles  appeared. 
Typically,  they  resemble  Roland  Steiner's  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in 


19These  International  Expositions  were  held  in  Paris,  London,  and  Chicago, 
respectively.  For  the  text  of  Owen's  talk,  see  Mary  Alicia  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos," 
in  The  International  Folk-lore  Congress  1891:  Papers  and  Transactions  (London:  David 
Nutt,  1892),  230-248. 

20In  its  early  years,  this  journal's  title  was  written,  "Journal  of  American  Folk- 
Lore"  which  was  later  changed  to  "Journal  of  American  Folklore."  In  the  body  of  this 
work,  I  use  the  latter,  but  in  the  footnotes,  I  use  whichever  title  was  appropriate  for  the 
time  period. 


10 
Georgia,"  an  essay  which  combines  conjure  stories  with  instructions  for  using  particular 

magical  materials.21 

After  1893,  the  South's  African- Americans  had  their  own  folklore  society  based 
at  Virginia's  Hampton  Normal  School,  a  historically  black  institution  (later  known  as  the 
Hampton  Institute).  In  a  notice  to  students  announcing  the  founding  of  the  Hampton 
Folk-Lore  Society,  an  anonymous  author  stated,  "The  American  Negroes  are  rising  so 
rapidly  from  the  condition  of  ignorance  and  poverty . . .  that  the  time  seems  not  far  distant 
when  they  shall  have  cast  off  their  past  entirely."22  If  a  record  of  conjure  was  not 
preserved,  blacks  would  become  a  people  without  a  history  beyond  what  whites  chose  to 
give  them.  Progress,  destined  to  wipe  out  such  folk  beliefs  as  conjure,  would 
nevertheless  preserve  knowledge  of  such  "savagery"  for  future  generations  through  the 
work  of  professional  folklorists.  To  this  end  The  Southern  Workman,  the  school 
newspaper,  published  numerous  articles  on  black  folklore  during  the  late  nineteenth 
century.23  Throughout  the  1890s  and  early  years  of  the  1900s,  Southern  Workman 


21Simon  Bronner,  American  Folklore  Studies:  An  Intellectual  History  (Lawrence: 
University  Press  of  Kansas,  1986),  1-38.  See  also  Simon  Bronner,  ed.,  Folklife  Studies  in 
the  GuildedAge:  Object  Rite,  and  Custom  in  Victorian  America  (Ann  Arbor  and  London: 
University  Microfilms,  1987),  and  Giuseppe  Cocchiara,  The  History  of  Folklore  in 
Europe,  trans,  by  John  N.  McDaniel,  Translations  in  Folklore  Studies,  Dan  Ben- Amos, 
ed.  (Philadelphia:  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Human  Issues,  1981);  William  W.  Newell, 
"Myths  of  Voodoo  Worship  and  Child  Sacrifice  in  Hayti,"  The  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore  1  (1888):  16-30;  William  W.  Newell,  "Reports  of  Voodoo  Worship  in  Hayti 
and  Louisiana,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore  2  (1889):  41-47;  Steiner,  "Observations," 
173-180. 


22« 


Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology,"  Southern  Workman  22  (1893):  180. 

"Technically,  not  an  academic  journal,  Southern  Workman  approached  conjure 
with  the  same  level  of  sophistication  as  the  Journal  of  American  Folklore.  For  this 
reason,  and  because  the  newspaper  was  published  by  an  academic  institution,  I  refer  to  it 
as  a  scholarly  publication  so  far  as  it  relates  to  hoodoo. 


11 

frequently  included  a  column  entitled  "Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology,"  which  regularly 
addressed  conjure.  Like  the  articles  appearing  in  the  Journal  of  American  Folklore,  these 
accounts  tended  to  be  simple  descriptions  of  hoodoo  beliefs.  Nevertheless,  a  few 
accounts  display  a  high  degree  of  analytical  sophistication.  The  most  important  example 
is  A.  M.  Bacon's  "Conjuring  and  Conjure-Doctors,"  published  in  1895.  Bacon  divides 
conjuration  into  two  types,  charms  and  poisons,  and  argues  that  conjurers  provided  five 
primary  services  to  their  clients,  roughly  summarized  as  follows:  diagnosis  of  afflictions 
caused  by  magic,  discovery  of  those  who  cast  the  spell,  searching  out  and  destroying 
tricks,  curing  those  who  have  been  conjured,  and  turning  spells  back  on  those  who  cast 
them.24  Meanwhile,  other  authors  began  to  tentatively  introduce  new  interpretations.  For 
instance,  Leonora  Herron,  in  her  essay  "Conjuring  and  Conjure-Doctors"  (not  to  be 
confused  with  Bacon's  article  of  the  same  title),  argued  that  conjure  functioned  as  a 
means  of  redressing  wrongs,  for  which  slavery  had  provided  no  other  mechanism.  In 
addition,  Herron  proposed  that  conjure  was  not  solely  of  African  origin,  but  was  also 
influenced  by  "association  with  the  white  race  . . .  till  it  became  a  curious  conglomerate 
of  fetichism,  divination,  quackery,  incantation  and  demonology."25  Despite  the  growing 
volume  and  analytical  rigor  of  such  articles,  few  authors  saw  conjure  as  a  positive  aspect 
of  the  black  past.  Instead,  African- Americans  followed  the  lead  of  whites,  condemning 


24Four  years  before  Bacon  published  her  piece,  Mary  Alicia  Owen's  paper  at  the 
1891  International  Folk-lore  Congress  classified  Missouri  Voodoo  charms  into  "good 
tricks,"  "bad  tricks,"  "all  that  pertains  to  the  body,"  and  "commanded  things."  Owen's 
presentation,  however,  was  less  influential  than  Bacon's  essay. 

25A.  M.  Bacon,  "Conjuring  and  Conjure-Doctors,"  Southern  Workman  24  (1895): 
193-194,  209-21 1;  Leonora  Herron,  "Conjuring  and  Conjure-Doctors,"  Southern 
Workman  24  (1895):  1 17-118,  quoted  117.  See  also  Daniel  Webster  Davis, 
"Conjuration,"  Southern  Workman  27  (1898):  251-252. 


12 
hoodoo  as  a  sign  of  backwardness.  While  whites  used  conjure  to  bolster  their 
supremacist  assumptions,  however,  blacks  used  its  supposed  decline  as  a  symbol  of 
advancement.26 

Southerners'  attempts  to  build  a  new  identity  brought  hoodoo  to  national 
attention.  Knowledge  of  conjure  ceased  to  be  the  purview  of  southerners  who 
experienced  it  firsthand.  Instead,  a  growing  number  of  books  intended  for  popular 
consumption  began  to  treat  hoodoo  as  an  important  part  of  black  culture.  Publications 
reporting  on  the  progress  of  the  black  race,  such  as  Brace's  The  Plantation  Negro  as  a 
Freedman,  increasingly  came  to  address  the  backwardness  of  conjure.  Likewise, 
autobiographies  of  ex-slaves  often  pointed  to  antebellum  conjure  to  demonstrate  how  far 
blacks  had  risen  from  bondage.  Such  was  the  case  with  Jacob  Stoyer,  a  former  South 
Carolina  slave,  who  made  much  of  slaves'  belief  in  magic,  recording  their  use  of  red 
pepper  and  salt  to  repel  witches.  Another  former  slave,  William  Wells  Brown,  author  of 
My  Southern  Home,  used  the  character  of  "Uncle  Dinkie,"  a  conjurer,  as  a  semi- 
humorous  figure  to  demonstrate  the  "ignorant  days  of  slavery."  In  addition  to  being  a 
fraud  who  earned  his  reputation  by  fortune-telling,  love  potions,  and  "medicine"  he  had 
learned  to  serve  the  devil  instead  of  God,  "kase  de  white  folks  don't  fear  de  Lord."27 


26Please  note  that  not  all  contributors  to  the  Southern  Workman  were  necessarily 
black.  As  was  common  at  other  institutions,  many  instructors  were  white.  Nevertheless, 
authors  of  both  races  generally  approached  their  topics  with  the  interests  of  their  black 
readers  in  mind. 

"Brace,  1 1 1-125;  Jacob  Stoyer,  My  Life  in  the  South,  4th  ed.  (Salem:  Newcomb 
and  Gauss,  1898),  52-59;  William  Wells  Brown,  My  Southern  Home:  or,  the  South  and 
Its  People  (A.  G  Brown  and  Company,  1880;  reprint,  Upper  Saddle  River,  New  Jersey: 
The  Gregg  Press,  1968),  68-82,  quoted  69  and  75.  See  also  Louis  Hughes,  Thirty  Years  a 
Slave:  From  Bondage  to  Freedom  (Milwaukee:  South  Side  Printing  Company,  1897), 
108. 


13 
Another  class  of  publication  which  usually  addressed  conjure  were  the  collections 
of  black  folklore  which  made  their  appearance  during  the  years  around  1900.  Harris' 
Uncle  Remus  refers  to  conjure  only  briefly,  but  some  of  his  imitators  dealt  with  it  in 
greater  depth.  For  instance,  in  Charles  Colcock  Jones,  Jr.'s  Gullah  Folktales  from  the 
Georgia  Coast,  "Buh  Rabbit"  must  contend  with  conjure  doctors  as  well  as  wolves  and 
tar  babies.  Two  works  appeared  which  were  entirely  devoted  to  stories  of  hoodoo.  The 
earliest  of  these  was  Mary  Alicia  Owen's  Voodoo  Tales  as  Told  among  the  Negroes  of 
the  Southwest,  first  published  in  1893.  As  its  alternate  title,  Old  Rabbit,  the  Voodoo,  and 
Other  Sorcerers,  suggests,  Owen's  work  is  a  collection  of  animal  stories  in  which  magic 
is  the  driving  force,  and  Rabbit,  Woodpecker,  and  the  Bee-King  appear  as  the  animal 
kingdom's  principal  conjurers.  Another  work  from  the  period  which  centers  on  hoodoo 
was  Virginia  Frazer  Boyle's  Devil  Tales.  Unlike  Harris,  Colcock,  and  Owen,  Boyle 
recorded  stories  of  human  hoodooists,  usually  locked  in  combat  with  the  devil. 
Nevertheless,  her  underlying  aim  was  the  same:  glorification  of  the  southern  past. 
Describing  her  sense  of  loss  at  the  death  of  her  storytelling  black  "Mammy,"  she  wrote, 
"The  swaying  form,  crooning  in  a  low  rich  voice,  like  some  bronze  Homer  blind  to 
letters,  a  weird  primeval  lore  into  the  ears  of  future  orators,  is  shut  within  the  feudal  past 
of  the  old  plantation  days."28 

A  final  group  of  books  which  began  to  appear  during  this  era  were  fictional  works 
built  around  the  workings  of  African- American  magic.  The  most  remarkable  of  these 
was  black  author  Charles  W.  Chesnutt's  The  Conjure  Woman,  which  recounts  a  series  of 


28Jones,  Gullah  Folktales,  1 1 1-1 13,  177-184.  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales; 
Virginia  Frazier  Boyle,  Devil  Tales,  with  illustrations  by  A.  B.  Frost  (1900;  reprint, 
Freeport:  Books  for  Libraries  Press,  1972),  quoted  xi. 


14 
tales  told  by  Uncle  Julius,  an  ex-slave,  to  white  Ohioan  immigrants  to  North  Carolina. 
Though  ostensibly  a  collection  of  conjure  stories  from  plantation  days,  Chesnutt's  Julius 
used  them  to  persuade  his  white  acquaintances  to  favor  him  with  gifts  and  other 
considerations.  For  example,  in  the  story  "Po'  Sandy,"  he  convinced  the  Ohioan  narrator 
and  his  wife  not  to  tear  down  an  old  building  because  it  had  been  built  from  a  person  who 
a  conjure  woman  had  changed  into  a  tree.  Shortly  after,  Julius  himself  asked  for  the 
building,  which  he  used  for  a  church.  Chesnutt,  only  marginally  interested  in  the  practice 
of  conjure,  used  stories  of  the  occult  to  demonstrate  the  overriding  power  of  whites.  Only 
by  preying  on  whites'  sense  of  sentiment  did  Julius  succeed  in  achieving  his  goals. 
Nevertheless,  white  readers  used  it  to  bolster  their  own  version  of  the  pre-Civil  War 
South,  including  the  primitive  superstitiousness  of  blacks.  In  keeping  with  their 
interpretation  of  The  Conjure  Woman,  white  authors  painted  an  even  more  negative 
picture  of  blacks'  supernaturalism.  Thomas  Nelson  Page's  Dr.  Moses  preyed  upon  noble 
whites,  especially  women,  and  led  blacks  in  attempts  to  overthrow  the  ruling  class.  As 
such,  Moses  and  his  kind  were  the  opposite  of  white  southerners.  In  the  1904  book,  An 
Angel  by  Brevet,  Helen  Pitkin  told  the  story  of  a  white  New  Orleans  girl  who  dabbled  in 
hoodoo  and  its  near-tragic  results.  Despite  its  threatening  nature,  the  presence  of  conjure 
was  part  of  what  it  meant  to  be  southern.  Pitkin  put  it  best.  Describing  the  scene  of  her 
novel,  she  wrote,  "New  Orleans  is  yearning  upward  through  Northern  lights  and  is  losing 
by  degrees  the  peculiarities  that  have  given  her  'color'  in  high  relief  against  even 
Southern  cities.  But  for  many  years  to  come  the  traditions  of  the  Congo  precincts  of 


15 
demonry  will  cling  to  her."29  White  dominated  the  late  nineteenth-century  South.  For 
Chesnutt,  conjure  was  one  means  by  which  blacks  could  deal  with  the  injustices  of  the 
ruling  class.  For  white  authors,  hoodoo  symbolized  black  barbarism,  a  necessary 
counterpart  to  their  conception  of  white  civilization.  For  both  races,  it  was  part  of  what  it 
meant  to  be  southern.30 

Even  those  who  had  no  particular  interest  in  slave  life  would  encounter  stories  of 
conjure  in  their  newspapers  and  popular  magazines.  For  instance,  on  July  10,  1889,  Key 
West,  Florida's  Daily  Equator-Democrat  recorded  that  blacks  of  the  Carolinas  believed 
that  castor  oil  was  made  by  a  conjurer  from  human  blood.  The  popularity  of  stories  of 
hoodoo  was  so  widespread  that  even  national  magazines  carried  accounts  of  it.  Not 
surprisingly,  New  Orleans,  home  of  Voodoo,  received  the  most  attention.  In  1885,  the 
respected  Harper's  Weekly  published  an  obituary  of  Jean  Montanet,  a  well-known 
Voodoo  conjurer.  Its  author,  Lafcadio  Hearn,  celebrated  the  deceased  as  "the  most 
extraordinary  African  character  who  that  ever  obtained  celebrity  within  [New  Orleans]," 
giving  him  the  title  "Last  of  the  Voudoos."31  The  following  year,  The  Century  Magazine 
published  two  articles  by  George  Washington  Cable,  which  included  much  information 
on  the  music  and  dance  of  Voodoo.  Though  journalists  gave  New  Orleans  more  than  its 


29Helen  Pitkin,  An  Angel  by  Brevet:  A  Story  of  Modern  New  Orleans  (Philadelphia 
and  London:  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  1904),  7. 

30Charles  W.  Chesnutt,  The  Conjure  Woman,  with  an  Introduction  by  Robert  M. 
Farnsworth  (Ann  Arbor:  University  of  Michigan  Press,  1969);  Page,  60,  103,  287,  291- 
293,  356-358;  Pitkin,  esp.  5-7.  See  also  George  W.  Cable,  The  Grandissimes:  A  Story  of 
Creole  Life  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1891). 

3 'Lafcadio  Hearn,  "The  Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  Harper's  Weekly  Magazine  29 
(1885):  726. 


16 
share  of  attention,  they  were  not  remiss  in  addressing  conjure  in  other  locales.  For 
example,  in  1889,  The  Atlantic  Monthly  carried  the  article,  "Voodooism  in  Tennessee," 
which  describes  the  author's  experience  with  a  tricked  black  servant.  A  year  before,  Eli 
Shepard  published  a  summary  of  conjure  beliefs  as  "Superstitions  of  the  Negro,"  which 
appeared  in  Cosmopolitan.  In  the  1 890s,  Lippincott  's  Monthly  Magazine  also  published 
two  accounts  of  hoodoo.  In  short,  knowledge  of  conjure  was  difficult  to  escape  during 
the  late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries.  Such  familiarity  made  it  acceptable  for 
popular  authors,  like  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  to  use  conjurers  as  characters  in  their  works 
with  little  or  no  explanation  of  their  person  or  powers.32 

As  late  as  1908,  the  editor  of  Metropolitan  Magazine  was  able  to  confidently 
state,  "We  all  know  to  a  slight  extent  that  the  uneducated  negro  is  a  victim  of  superstition, 
believes  in  spells  and  portents,  and  observes  certain  rites  to  ward  off  evil."33  Interest  in 
hoodoo,  however,  was  already  on  the  wane.  By  the  second  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century,  what  had  once  been  a  flood  of  popular  articles  slowed  to  a  trickle.  Scholarly 
interest  fared  somewhat  better,  however.  While  Southern  Workman  had  dropped  its 


32"Believed  in  North  Carolina  Also,"  The  Daily  Equator-Democrat,  10  July  1889; 
Hearn,  "The  Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  726-727;  George  Washington  Cable,  "The  Dance  in 
Place  Congo,"  with  illustrations  by  E.  W.  Kemble,  The  Century  Magazine  31  (1886): 
517-532;  George  Washington  Cable,  "Creole  Slave  Songs,"  with  illustrations  by  E.  W. 
Kemble,  The  Century  Magazine  31  (1886):  807-828;  S.  M.  Park,  "Voodooism  in 
Tennessee,"  The  Atlantic  Monthly  64  (1889):  376-380;  Eli  Shepard,  "Superstitions  of  the 
Negro,"  Cosmopolitan  Magazine  5  (1888):  47-50,  reprinted  in  Bruce  Jackson,  ed.,  The 
Negro  and  his  Folklore  in  Nineteenth-Century  Periodicals,  American  Folklore  Society, 
Biographical  and  Special  Series,  ed.  Kenneth  S.  Goldstein,  vol.  18  (Austin  and  London: 
University  of  Texas  Press,  1967),  247-253;  SaraM.  Handy,  "Negro  Superstitions," 
Lippincott's  Monthly  Magazine  48  (1891):  735-739;  William  Cecil  Elam,  "A  Case  of 
Hoodoo,"  Lippincott 's  Monthly  Magazine  54  (1894):  138-141. 

33See  the  unsigned  editorial  preface  to  Marvin  Dana,  "Voodoo:  Its  Effect  on  the 
Negro  Race,"  The  Metropolitan  Magazine  28  (1908):  529-538. 


17 
"Folklore  and  Ethnology"  column  by  1910,  The  Journal  of  American  Folklore  maintained 
an  interest  in  hoodoo,  but  even  this  journal  published  fewer  articles  than  in  previous 
years.  The  reason  for  this  was  that  the  nation  at  large  had  come  to  accept  the  South  and 
its  distinctiveness  as  American.  Scholarly  histories,  following  the  lead  of  such  authors  as 
William  A.  Dunning,  validated  southerners'  version  of  their  past.  The  Civil  War  became 
little  more  than  an  inevitable  conflict  between  Northern  industry  and  Southern 
agriculture.  Slaves  had  lived  happy,  carefree  lives  under  the  watchful  eye  of  paternalistic 
masters.  Reconstruction  was  a  tragic  era  in  which  vengeful  Republicans  forced  their  will 
upon  a  wronged  South.  At  the  same  time,  Supreme  Court  cases,  such  as  Plessy  vs. 
Ferguson,  and  Jim  Crow  laws  had  legalized  blacks'  status  as  second-class  citizens.  For 
blacks,  the  ideology  of  racial  uplift  no  longer  seemed  so  promising.  As  a  result,  the  use 
of  the  disappearance  of  superstition  as  a  benchmark  of  progress  became  less  important. 
Alongside  the  plethora  of  articles  already  available,  these  shifts  in  black  and  white 
outlooks  inevitably  caused  a  decline  in  publications  addressing  conjure.34 

While  works  on  conjure  declined  from  shortly  after  1900  to  the  mid- 1920s,  they 
did  not  disappear.  Surviving  folkloric  interest  in  hoodoo  helped  revive  popular  attention 
to  conjure  from  the  late  1920s  through  the  first  half  of  the  1940s.  For  instance,  the  single 
most  influential  work  to  address  conjure  yet  produced  has  been  Newbell  Niles  Puckett's 
1926  book,  Folk  Beliefs  of  the  Southern  Negro.  Like  his  predecessors,  Puckett's  primary 


34For  an  account  of  changing  scholarly  views  of  the  Southern  past,  see  Novick, 
72-80.  For  the  two  most  prominent  sympathetic  treatments  of  Southern  experiences 
during  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,  see  Charles  A.  Beard  and  Mary  R.  Beard,  The 
Rise  of  American  Civilization,  with  decorations  by  Wilfred  Jones,  2  vols.  (New  York: 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1927),  and  William  Archibald  Dunning,  Reconstruction, 
Political  and  Economic,  1865-1877  (New  York  and  London:  Harper  and  Brothers,  1907). 


18 

concern  was  the  assertion  of  white  cultural  supremacy.  Indeed,  his  avowed  purpose  in 
writing  Folk  Beliefs  was  to  preserve  the  "mental  heirlooms  of  the  Old  South."35  Though 
he  generally  followed  A.  M.  Bacon's  conclusion  that  conjure  evolved  from  the  religions 
of  Africa,  Puckett  scrutinized  individual  beliefs  and  materials  involved  in  conjure, 
determining  that  much  of  African- American  conjure  was  of  European  origin.  As  such,  it 
preserved  the  white  past  by  keeping  alive  practices  which  had  long  disappeared  among 
European- Americans.  Though  covering  topics  ranging  from  burial  customs  to  prophecy, 
almost  a  quarter  of  his  text  is  devoted  to  conjure  and  Voodoo,  making  Folk  Beliefs  the 
longest  general  treatment  of  the  subject  in  existence.  Investigating  hoodoo  throughout  the 
South,  Puckett  examined  the  initiation  of  conjurers  into  their  art,  dozens  of  individual 
spells,  and  the  influence  and  function  of  hoodoo  doctors  in  the  black  community.  Like 
Leonora  Herron,  he  determined  that  conjure  survived  as  a  means  of  obtaining  justice 
under  the  system  of  slavery.  Although  Puckett's  work  resembled  the  Local  Color  books 
of  the  previous  century  in  its  aims  to  build  a  white  identity  around  the  folk  beliefs  of  their 
former  slaves,  it  was  well-received  by  both  blacks  and  whites,  influencing,  directly  or 
indirectly,  all  those  who  followed.36 

More  typical  of  whites'  identity-building  during  the  period  were  the  works 
produced  by  the  Federal  Writers  Project  (FWP)  of  1935-1939.  By  the  mid-1920s,  most 
had  accepted  southerners  as  part  of  the  national  consensus,  but  the  very  nature  of  the 
American  system  seemed  threatened.  During  the  1 920s,  intellectuals  began  to  doubt  the 


35Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  1-78,  167-310,  quoted  2. 


36See  C.  H.  W.,  review  of Folk  Beliefs  of  the  Southern  Negro,  by  Newbell  Niles 
Puckett,  in  Southern  Workman  55  (1926):  574-575. 


19 
validity  of  American  capitalism,  and  many  turned  to  Leftist  ideologies,  particularly 
communism.  As  capitalism  appeared  to  collapse  with  the  coming  of  the  Great 
Depression,  their  doubts  seemed  confirmed.  Massive  unemployment,  resulting  from  the 
economic  downturn,  likewise  undermined  middle-  and  working-class  Americans'  faith  in 
the  American  Dream.  Among  Franklin  Roosevelt's  programs  for  economic  assistance 
were  several  "alphabet  agencies,"  such  as  the  Works  Progress  Administration  (WPA), 
which  coordinated  the  FWP.  The  FWP's  chief  aim  was  to  alleviate  the  economic  distress 
of  white  collar  workers  and  literary  artists  by  providing  work.  Just  as  important, 
however,  its  administrators  used  it  as  a  means  of  building  a  "literature  of  nationhood," 
that  sought  to  restore  worth  to  the  American  democratic/capitalist  system.  The  FWP's 
chief  task  was  the  publication  of  city  and  state  guidebooks,  which  emphasized  America's 
rich  heritage  of  diverse  regional  and  ethnic  cultures,  melded  together  through  the  action 
of  democracy  and  capitalism.  Other  minor  projects,  such  as  the  collection  and 
publication  of  volumes  on  local  folklore  and  black  life,  served  a  similar  purpose.37  While 
most  of  the  material  collected  by  interviewers  has  never  seen  publication,  several  books 
did  result.  In  the  study  of  conjure,  the  most  important  of  these  publications  are  Stetson 
Kennedy's  Palmetto  Country  and  Gumbo  Ya-Ya,  by  Lyle  Saxon,  Robert  Tallant,  and 
Edward  Dreyer,  both  compiled  from  material  collected  by  the  FWP.  These  works  include 
considerable  hoodoo  material  from  Florida  and  Louisiana,  respectively.  Palmetto 
Country  and  Gumbo  Ya-Ya  were  both  intended  for  popular  audiences,  and  to  this  end, 


37Monty  Noam  Penkower,  The  Federal  Writers  Project:  A  Study  in  Government 
Patronage  of  the  Arts  (Urbana,  Chicago,  and  London:  University  of  Illinois  Press,  1977), 
see  especially  1-29,  238-248. 


20 
they  retell  stories  of  conjure  in  an  entertaining  style,  reaching  broader  audiences  than 
those  works  aimed  at  scholars,  helping  to  once  more  bring  conjure  into  the  public  eye.38 

With  dreams  of  racial  uplift  damaged,  if  not  destroyed,  by  the  deepening  of 
segregation,  black  Americans  turned  from  white  models  for  their  construction  of  African- 
American  identity.  By  the  1920s,  many  African- Americans  had  emerged  into  the  middle 
class,  particularly  in  northern  cities.  Seeing  this  urban  prosperity,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  black  southerners  fled  rural  poverty  in  hope  of  finding  the  American  Dream.  The 
result  was  the  Great  Migration  of  blacks  into  such  northern  cities  as  Chicago,  Detroit,  and 
New  York.  The  growing  number  of  blacks  in  urban  settings  and  the  return  of  black 
veterans  of  the  First  World  War  led  to  rising  black  assertiveness.  One  result  was  the 
growth  of  largely  middle-class  civil  rights  organizations,  such  as  the  National  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People  (NAACP),  which  sought  racial  equality  through 
legal  maneuvering.  The  working  class  could  be  even  more  radical,  joining  such 
nationalist  groups  as  Marcus  Garvey's  Universal  Negro  Improvement  Association. 
Others  turned  to  the  Communist  or  Socialist  parties  or  one  of  the  other  labor 
organizations  which  agitated  for  civil  rights  during  the  era.39 


38Stetson  Kennedy,  Palmetto  Country  (1942;  Tallahassee:  Florida  A  &  M 
University  Press,  1989),  see  especially  127-132,  163-182;  Lyle  Saxon,  Robert  Tallant, 
and  Edward  Dreyer,  Gumbo  Ya-Ya:  A  Collection  of  Louisiana  Folk  Tales  (New  York: 
Bonanza  Books,  1945). 

39Mark  Naison,  Communists  in  Harlem  During  the  Depression  (Urbana: 
University  of  Illinois  Press,  1983);  Bruce  Nelson,  Workers  on  the  Waterfront  (Urbana: 
University  of  Illinois  Press,  1988);  Robert  Korstad  and  Nelson  Lichtenstein, 
"Opportunities  Found  and  Lost:  Labor,  Radicals,  and  the  Early  Civil  Rights  Movement,' 
Journal  of  American  History  75  (1988):  786-81 1. 


21 
Although  many  African- Americans  of  both  classes  participated  in  the  drive  for 
black  economic  improvement  and  political  advancement,  some  turned  to  cultural 
nationalism  in  order  to  create  a  distinctively  "Negro  aesthetic"  and  to  imbue  America's 
blacks  with  a  sense  of  worth,  a  movement  commonly  known  as  the  Harlem 
Renaissance.40  To  do  so,  many  authors  employed  black  folklore.  Zora  Neale  Hurston, 
author  of  the  book-length  1931  essay,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  followed  this  course. 
"Hoodoo  in  America"  was  a  typical  folklore  study  of  the  time,  consisting  primarily  of  a 
series  of  anecdotes  and  notes  on  specific  conjure  materials.  Four  years  later,  Hurston 
published  Mules  and  Men,  the  last  one  hundred  pages  of  which  are  a  heavily-revised 
version  of  her  earlier  article,  now  aimed  at  popular  consumption.  Hurston' s  contributions 
to  the  scholarship  of  conjure  include  her  comparison  of  hoodoo  with  Bahamian  Obeah 
and  her  conclusion  that  hoodoo  was  primarily  African  in  origin.  Nevertheless,  her  most 
important  innovation  was  to  argue  that  hoodoo  was  a  vital  element  of  blacks'  racial 
identity,  stating,  "Hoodoo,  or  Voodoo,  as  pronounced  by  whites,  is  burning  with  a  flame 
in  America,  with  all  the  intensity  of  a  suppressed  religion."41  Unfortunately  for  the 
history  of  conjure,  her  contemporaries  largely  ignored  her.  Middle-class  black  America, 


^James  R.  Grossman,  Land  of  Hope:  Chicago,  Black  Southerners,  and  the  Great 
Migration  (Chicago:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1989);  George  Hutchinson,  The 
Harlem  Renaissance  in  Black  and  White  (Cambridge:  Harvard  University  Press,  1995); 
Tracy  Mishkin,  The  Harlem  and  Irish  Renaissances:  Language,  Identity,  and 
Representation,  with  a  Foreword  by  George  Bornstein  (Gainesville  and  Tallahassee: 
University  of  Florida  Press,  1998);  E.  David  Cronon,  Black  Moses:  The  Story  of  Marcus 
Garvey  and  the  Negro  Improvement  Association,  with  a  Foreword  by  John  Hope  Franklin 
(Madison:  The  University  of  Wisconsin  Press,  1955);  Victor  A.  Kramer  and  Robert  A. 
Russ,  eds.,  Harlem  Renaissance  Re-examined:  A  Revised  and  Expanded  Edition  (Troy: 
Whitston  Publishing  Company,  1997). 


41 


Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  183. 


22 

which  provided  the  majority  of  her  reading  public,  was  not  yet  willing  to  abandon  the 

scientific  outlook  which  drove  them  to  seek  "progress"  over  an  identity  influenced  by 

"superstition."  The  working  class,  which  continued  to  participate  in  conjure,  generally 

gravitated  to  labor-based  reform  instead  of  less  tangible  cultural  nationalism.42 

Nevertheless,  the  movement  of  blacks  from  the  rural  South  to  the  urban  North  did 

help  to  bring  conjure  to  the  attention  of  African- Americans  of  both  classes  throughout  the 

nation.  For  example,  advertisements  for  conjuring  materials  and  hoodoo  practitioners 

aimed  at  the  newly-arrived  laborers  boomed  in  black-oriented  periodicals.  The  Chicago 

Defender,  America's  most  popular  African- American  newspaper,  had  only  one  page  with 

advertisements  for  conjure  goods  and  services  on  March  1,1919.  By  July  7,  1928, 

however,  twelve  pages  had  such  advertisements.  In  addition,  over  one  hundred  blues 

songs  from  the  early  twentieth  century  employed  hoodoo  motifs  in  their  lyrics.  One 

example  was  Bessie  Brown's,  "Hoodoo  Blues."  She  sang: 

I'm  on  the  war  path  now,  I'm  mean  and  evil  I  vow, 
Some  woman  stole  my  man,  to  get  even  I've  a  plan. 

Gonna  sprinkle  ding  'em  dust  all  around  her  door 
Gonna  sprinkle  ding  'em  dust  all  around  her  door 
Put  a  spider  in  her  dumplin',  make  her  crawl  all  over  the  floor 

Goin'  'neath  her  window,  gonna  lay  a  black  cat  bone 
Goin'  'neath  her  window,  gonna  lay  a  black  cat  bone 
Burn  a  candle  on  her  picture,  she  won't  let  my  good  man  alone. 

Got  myself  some  gris-gris,  tote  it  up  in  a  sack 
Got  myself  some  gris-gris,  tote  it  up  in  a  sack 
Gonna  keep  on  wearin'  it  till  I  get  my  good  man  back 

I  was  born  'way  down  in  Algiers,  I  wear  conjure  in  my  shoes 


42Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  318-417;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  especially 
181-285. 


23 

Born  'way  down  in  Algiers,  I  wear  conjure  in  my  shoes 
Gonna  fix  that  woman,  make  her  sing  them  hoodoo  blues.43 

At  the  same  time,  some  conjurers  became  nationally  known  figures.  Chief  among  them 

were  James  Jordan  of  Como,  North  Carolina,  and  "Doctor  Buzzard"  (also  known  as 

Stephaney  Robinson)  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  who  drew  their  clientele  from  across 

the  eastern  United  States.  Both  men  became  wealthy  through  their  work,  sometimes 

charging  hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  dollars  for  single  spells.  While  Hurston 

unsuccessfully  sought  to  make  hoodoo  a  foundation  for  a  black  identity  encompassing  all 

classes,  the  masses  of  African- American  laborers  had  never  forgotten  its  importance.44 

As  the  impact  of  Folk  Beliefs  of  the  Southern  Negro  and  the  publications  of  the 

FWP  collided  with  rising  black  assertiveness,  historians  and  other  scholars  began  to  give 

ever  more  attention  to  conjure.  Of  particular  interest  to  historians  and  anthropologists  of 

the  time  was  the  question  of  African  survivals,  the  examination  of  which  became  much 

easier  due  to  the  oral  histories  collected  by  the  WPA.  Melville  J.  Herskovits,  author  of 

The  Myth  of  the  Negro  Past,  emerged  as  the  most  influential  scholar  to  address  this  issue. 


43Bessie  Brown  and  Spenser  Williams,  "Hoodoo  Blues,"  Columbia  14029,  3  July 
1924.  For  the  text  of  this  song  and  many  others,  see  Catherine  Yronwode,  "Blues  Lyrics 
and  Hoodoo,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company  Website,  1995-1999, 
<http://www.luckymojo.eom/blues.html#performers>  and 
<http://www.luckymojo.comMueshoodbrown.html>  (20  May  2002). 

"The  Chicago  Defender,  1  March  1919,  7  July  1928;  Yronwode,  "Blues  Lyrics 
and  Hoodoo";  F.  Roy  Johnson,  The  Fabled  Doctor  Jim  Jordan:  A  Story  of  Conjure 
(Murfreesboro:  Johnson  Publishing  Company,  1963);  James  Edwin  McTeer,  Fifty  Years 
as  a  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor  (Beaufort:  Beaufort  Book  Company,  1976).  See  also 
Zora  Neale  Hurston,  Moses,  Man  of  the  Mountain  (Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott,  1939), 
and  Zora  Neale  Hurston,  Tell  My  Horse:  Voodoo  and  Life  in  Haiti  and  Jamaica,  with  a 
Foreword  by  Ishmael  Reed  and  Afterword  by  Henry  Louis  Gates,  Jr.  (New  York:  Harper 
and  Row,  1990),  which  also  deal  with  aspects  of  African  and  African- American  magical 
beliefs. 


24 
Relying  heavily  on  information  from  Puckett's  earlier  study,  he  argued  that  conjure  was  a 
relic  of  African  religion,  proving  that  blacks,  like  Europeans,  were  "a  people  with  a 
past."45  As  usual,  however,  scholarly  works  were  not  the  most  important  influence  on  the 
wider  public.  Far  more  visible  were  the  popular  articles  which  once  again  began  to 
appear  in  national  periodicals.  For  instance,  in  1927,  M.  S.  Lea's  "Two-head  Doctors" 
appeared  in  The  American  Mercury.  In  this  brief  article,  Lea  tells  a  series  of  hoodoo 
stories  she  learned  from  her  African- American  maid  and  a  black  night  watchman  during 
her  residence  in  Washington,  DC.46  Three  years  later,  Scribner  's  Magazine  published 
Ruth  Bass'  "Mojo:  The  Strange  Magic  That  Works  in  the  South  Today,"  an  account  of 
conjure  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana.47 

Despite  the  increasing  attention  to  conjure  in  popular  and  scholarly  publications, 
works  addressing  hoodoo  were  less  common  than  in  the  late  nineteenth  and  early 
twentieth  centuries.  The  result  was  that  fewer  readers  came  into  contact  with  them. 
Conjure  had  already  begun  to  fade  from  popular  conceptions  of  black  society.  Likewise, 


45Herskovits,  235-251.  For  his  most  important  opponent,  see  Edward  Franklin 
Frazier,  Black  Bourgeoisie  (Glencoe:  Free  Press,  1957).  Frazier  argued  that  blacks  lost 
their  culture  through  the  process  of  enslavement.  Herskovits,  an  anthropologist, 
influenced  succeeding  generations  of  historians  and  other  social  scientists  to  the  degree 
that  it  is  difficult  to  find  one  who  would  argue  that  African  culture  died  during  the  Middle 
Passage.  For  another  study  of  African  survivals,  see  Savannah  Unit  of  the  Georgia 
Writer's  Project,  Drums  and  Shadows:  Survival  Studies  among  the  Coastal  Negroes,  with 
an  Introduction  by  Charles  Joyner  and  photographs  by  Muriel  and  Malcolm  Bell,  Jr. 
(Athens  and  London:  University  of  Georgia  Press,  1986). 


46"Two-head  doctor"  is  a  synonym  for  "conjurer"  or  "hoodoo  doctor." 

47Ruth  Bass,  "Mojo:  The  Strange  Magic  That  Works  in  the  South  Today," 
Scribner 's  Magazine  87  (1930):  83-90;  M.  S.  Lea,  "Two-head  Doctors,"  The  American 
Mercury  12  (1927):  236-240.  For  a  similar  treatment,  see  Carmer,  Stars  Fell  on 
Alabama. 


25 
fictional  accounts  of  the  Old  South  gave  trick  doctors  little  attention  during  the  period. 
The  two  most  popular  books  of  the  era,  Margaret  Mitchell's  Gone  with  the  Wind  and 
Stark  Young's  So  Red  the  Rose,  make  no  mention  of  hoodoo  doctors,  who  had  once  been 
common  fixtures  in  tales  of  the  plantation  South.  As  a  result  of  fading  white 
understandings  of  conjure,  the  writers  of  the  1920s- 1940s  treated  hoodoo  as  a  hidden  part 
of  black  society.  Hurston  was  able  to  refer  to  hoodoo  as  a  "suppressed  religion"  with 
some  justification.  For  instance,  in  "Two-head  Doctors,"  Lea  announced  that  before  a 
conversation  with  her  maid  introduced  her  to  hoodoo,  she  had  "never  supposed  that  its 
practices  existed  save  among  a  handful  of  the  swamp  and  plantation  Negroes  of  the  Gulf 
States."48  Moreover,  popular  articles  increasingly  carried  titles  intended  to  shock  readers 
with  their  announcement  of  the  "discovery"  of  conjure.  Essays  from  the  late  nineteenth 
century  were  apt  to  be  entitled  something  akin  to  Sheperd's  "Superstitions  of  the  Negro" 
or  Bacon's  "Conjuring  and  Conjure-Doctors."  Works  of  the  1920s  -  1940s  were  more 
likely  to  carry  appellations  resembling  Bass'  "Mojo:  The  Strange  Magic  That  Works  in 
the  South  Today"  or  the  even  more  sensationalist  "Black  Jupiter:  A  Voodoo  King  in 
Florida's  Jungle  -  Black  Magic  in  the  Turpentine  Forests,"  by  Edwin  Granberry.  Hoodoo 
was  no  longer  simply  a  peculiarity  of  everyday  Southern  life.  Instead,  it  had  become  a 
sensational  mystery  that  needed  to  be  revealed  to  a  wondering  public.49 


48Lea,  236. 

49Margaret  Mitchell,  Gone  with  the  Wind  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1936);  Stark 
Young,  So  Red  the  Rose  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1934);  Edwin  Granberry, 
"Black  Jupiter:  A  Voodoo  King  in  Florida's  Jungle-Black  Magic  in  the  Turpentine 
Forests,"  with  illustrations  by  Douglas  Cleary,  Travel  58  (1932):  32-35,  54. 


26 

After  the  mid  1940s,  conjure,  already  an  obscure  topic,  disappeared  from  most 
Americans'  conception  of  black  society  as  it  became  less  important  as  a  means  of  identity 
construction.50   For  whites,  World  War  II  and  the  coming  of  the  Cold  War  played 
important  roles.  On  a  basic  level,  World  War  II  lessened  the  need  for  such  federal  relief 
programs  as  the  FWP.  More  important,  however,  the  war  revived  capitalism,  rendering 
the  "literature  of  nationhood"  less  vital  for  the  construction  of  American  identity. 
Moreover,  the  Red  Scare  reoriented  whites'  search  for  identity  away  from  FWP-style 
"unity  in  diversity"  in  favor  of  simple  unity.  As  early  as  1939,  the  fear  of  Communist 
infiltration  of  America's  intellectuals  combined  with  economic  recovery  to  doom  the 
FWP.  For  both  Northerners  and  southerners,  communism  had  become  "the  other"  against 
whom  they  defined  their  revitalized  system  of  capitalism  and  democracy.51  In  such  a 
world,  blacks  were  simply  less  important  to  whites'  identity  construction  than  they  had 
once  been. 

As  with  whites,  the  Cold  War  limited  the  future  visibility  of  conjure  in  the  black 
community  by  limiting  hoodoo's  importance  to  African- American  identity.  During  the 
Second  World  War,  the  labor-led  Civil  Rights  Movement  made  substantial  gains, 
achieving  the  establishment  of  the  Fair  Employment  Practices  Commission  and  the 
desegregation  of  the  armed  forces.  Though  the  working-class  never  seized  upon  conjure 
as  an  ideological  expression  of  blackness,  it  had  always  been  more  familiar  with  hoodoo 


50The  most  important  exception  to  this  general  trend  was  the  medical  field's 
discovery  of  conjure  as  an  important  psychsomatic  force.  See,  for  instance,  "Voodoo 
Kills  by  Despair,"  Science  News  Letter  67  (1955):  294.  Unfortunately,  medicine's 
isolation  from  the  social  science  limited  such  articles'  influence  on  the  broader  society. 

5,Penkower,  181-214. 


27 
than  middle-class  blacks.  A  successful  labor-led  Civil  Rights  movement  might  have 
provided  a  vehicle  for  hoodoo  to  reenter  American  consciousness.  Soon  after  peace, 
however,  the  Cold  War  brought  the  movement's  promise  to  an  end.  As  fear  of 
communism  gripped  America,  government  suppression  of  leftists  and  militant  labor 
undermined  the  foundation  of  black  efforts.  Though  the  early  Civil  Rights  Movement 
had  never  made  folk  beliefs  an  important  part  of  its  identity,  its  collapse  limited  the 
power  of  working  class  blacks  to  be  heard  by  both  whites  and  middle-class  members  of 
their  own  race.  Without  any  significant  focus  of  resistance,  Jim  Crow  persisted 
undisturbed  until  the  mid-1950s.52 

When  a  new  Civil  Rights  Movement  exploded  following  the  Supreme's  Court's 
move  against  segregation  in  the  1954  Brown  vs.  Board  of  Education  ofTopeka,  Kansas,  it 
was  ill-suited  to  promote  conjure  as  a  positive  element  of  black  culture.  The  movement's 
leaders,  drawn  primarily  from  the  black  middle-class,  held  to  their  long-term  belief  that 
hoodoo  was  a  negative  feature  of  their  society.  More  important,  this  phase  of  the  Civil 
Rights  Movement  made  no  major  effort  to  incorporate  any  part  of  black  culture  into  its 
goals.  On  the  contrary,  the  likes  of  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.  advocated  a  "color  blind 
society"  of  full  social,  economic,  and  political  equality  with  whites  obtained  through 
Christian  brotherhood.  One  unintentional  side  effect  of  this  approach  was  the  temporary 
muting  of  black  cultural  nationalism,  a  potential  route  to  the  rediscovery  of  conjure. 
Moreover,  in  its  early  years,  the  movement  did  little  but  further  divide  the  races 


"Richard  Dalfiume,  Desegregation  of  the  U.S.  Armed  Forces  (Columbia: 
University  of  Missouri  Press,  1969);  John  Morton  Blum,  V  Was  for  Victory:  Politics  and 
American  Culture  during  World  War  II  (New  York:  Harcourt  Brace  Jovanovich,  1976); 
Korstad  and  Lichtenstein,  786-811. 


28 
culturally.  While  only  a  minority  of  whites  actively  fought  the  movement,  even  fewer 
joined  it.  Even  though  it  eventually  achieved  it  goals  of  ending  legal  segregation  and 
halting  official  discrimination  in  the  workplace  and  at  the  polls,  it  failed  to  erase  the 
racism  that  compelled  whites  to  reject  social  contact  with  African- Americans  and 
prevented  them  from  appreciating  the  black  folk  culture  that  had  once  been  such  an 
important  part  of  white  identity.53 

Professional  folklorists,  who  had  continued  to  study  conjure  on  a  small  scale, 
likewise  lost  interest  as  they  adopted  problem-solving  as  the  focus  of  their  work.  In  1958, 
Vladimir  Propp's  Morphology  of  the  Folktale  was  printed  in  English.  Published  in 
Russian  thirty  years  earlier,  the  already-influential  book  helped  reshape  the  field  through 
its  assertion  that  folktales  throughout  the  world  share  common  structures  and  underlying 
meanings.  One  result  was  that  folklore  lost  its  effectiveness  as  means  of  asserting 
regional  or  national  identities,  divorcing  it  from  popular  audiences.  Nevertheless,  some 
books  addressing  conjure  continued  to  see  print,  but  these  were  increasingly  studies  of 
specifically  black  folklore,  such  as  Langston  Hughes  and  Arna  Bontemps'  Book  of  Negro 
Folklore.  Thus,  they  failed  to  appeal  to  a  broad  audience  in  an  era  of  racial  turmoil. 
More  important,  articles  addressing  conjure  became  less  common  in  such  scholarly 
publications  as  the  Journal  of  American  Folklore  and  virtually  disappeared  from  popular 


53David  L.  Chappell,  Inside  Agitators:  White  Southerners  in  the  Civil  Rights 
Movement  (Baltimore:  Johns  Hopkins  University  Press,  1994);  William  Henry  Chafe, 
Civilities  and  Civil  Rights:  Greensboro,  North  Carolina  and  the  Black  Struggle  for 
Freedom  (New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1980).  For  overviews  of  the  political 
goals  of  the  movement,  see  Steven  F.  Lawson,  Black  Ballots:  Voting  Rights  in  the  South, 
1945-1969  (New  York:  Columbia  University  Press,  1976),  and  Steven  F.  Lawson,  In 
Pursuit  of  Power:  Southern  Blacks  and  Electoral  Politics,  1965-1982  (New  York: 
Columbia  University  Press,  1985).  For  King's  role,  see  Taylor  Branch,  Parting  the 
Waters:  America  in  the  King  Years,  1954-1963  (New  York:  Simon  and  Schuster,  1988); 


29 
magazines.54  On  the  rare  occasions  when  a  journalist  saw  fit  to  print  such  articles,  they 
usually  echoed  the  words  of  journalist  Edward  D.  Clayton,  who  referred  to  New  Orleans 
Voodoo  and  hoodoo  as  "a  lucrative  racket . . .  practiced  surreptitiously  with  weird 
mumbo-jumbo  in  flats  around  the  city  by  a  handful  of  self-styled  "doctors"  and 
"reverends"  who  prey  on  naive  innocents."55  Abandoned  by  even  its  most  steadfast 
friend,  hoodoo  faded  into  invisibility. 

Today,  interest  in  conjure  is  again  reviving.  By  the  1970s,  black  magical  beliefs 
were  becoming  more  apparent,  largely  due  to  an  influx  of  Latin  Americans  of  African 
descent,  who  brought  such  syncretic  religions  as  Santeria  into  the  United  States.56 


54The  most  important  exception  to  this  rule  was  Norman  E.  Whitten, 
"Contemporary  Patterns  of  Malign  Occultism  among  Negroes  in  North  Carolina," 
Journal  of  American  Folklore  75  (1962):  310-325.  Whitten's  essay  set  the  trend  for  later 
folkloric  investigations  of  conjure  by  seeking  to  identify  a  peculiar  logic  behind  African- 
American  magic. 

55Vladimir  I.  Propp,  Morphology  of  the  Folktale,  International  Journal  of 
American  Linguistics,  vol.  24,  no.  3,  part  3  (1958);  Langston  Hughes  and  Arna 
Bontemps,  eds.,  The  Book  of  Negro  Folklore  (New  York:  Dodd,  Mead,  and  Company, 
1959),  see  especially  103-105, 183-207;  Edward  T.  Clayton,  "The  Truth  about  Voodoo," 
Ebony,  April  1951,  54-61,  quoted  54. 

"Whether  driven  from  their  homes  by  political  oppression  or  economic  distress, 
these  new  arrivals  brought  elements  of  their  distinct  cultures  with  them,  including  their 
religions.  While  most  Latin  American  immigrants  professed  Catholicism,  many  also 
practiced  a  form  of  Afro-European  syncretic  religion,  the  most  important  of  which  has 
been  Cuban  Santeria.  As  Santeria  spread  throughout  both  northern  and  southern  cities, 
most  noticeably  New  York  and  Miami,  it  became  increasingly  visible  in  the  press. 
Though  it  differs  from  African-American  hoodoo  and  Voodoo  in  its  gods  and  central 
tenets,  native-born  white  Americans  have  often  failed  to  distinguish  between  it  and 
indigenous  American  folk  religions,  as  is  clear  in  titles  of  such  works  as  E.  Tivnan's  1979 
article,  "The  Voodoo  That  New  Yorkers  Do,"  which  lumps  Santeria  and  other  syncretic 
faiths  under  the  misleading  title  of  "Voodoo."  Other  important  syncretic  religions  which 
have  recently  appeared  in  the  United  States  are  Bahamian  Obeah,  Mexican  Espiritismo, 
Trinidadian  Shango,  and  Brazilian  Candomble.  During  the  1990s,  Haitian  Voodoo  has 
also  grown,  due  to  the  flight  of  many  Haitians  from  political  turmoil.  See  E.  Tivnan, 
"The  Voodoo  That  New  Yorkers  Do,"  New  York  Times  Magazine  1 82  (December  2, 


30 
Nevertheless,  most  authors  continued  to  view  African- American  magic  as  a  sign  of 
backwardness.  For  example,  in  July  of  1976,  Hamilton  Bims,  published  "Would  You 
Believe  It . . .  Superstition  Lives!"  in  Ebony,  giving  hoodoo  a  prominent  place  in  a  gallery 
of  disreputable  beliefs  and  practices.57  This  dismissive  approach  began  to  decline  as  the 
ideas  of  cultural  pluralism,  postmodernism,  and  the  New  Age  Movement  increasingly 
caught  hold  throughout  the  1970s,  1980s,  and  1990s,  allowing  Americans  to  construct 
individual  and  group  identities  free  from  an  overarching  national  culture.  First 
propounded  by  philosopher  Horace  Kallen  and  adopted  by  anthropologists  Franz  Boas 
and  Margaret  Mead,  the  idea  of  cultural  pluralism  proclaimed  equality  among  the  world's 
diverse  cultures.  Following  the  success  of  the  Civil  Rights  Movement  and  the  arrival  of 
the  new  Latin  American  immigrants,  it  gained  widespread  popular  support  by  the  1980s, 
opening  a  path  to  the  acceptance  of  conjure  as  a  valid  expression  of  black  identity.58 
As  cultural  pluralism  gained  strength,  so  did  the  intellectual  trend  known  as 
postmodernism.  While  scholars  have  yet  to  offer  a  definitive  account  of  the  meaning, 
influence,  and  worth  of  postmodern  ideas,  they  tend  to  agree  on  many  of  its  distinctive 
characteristics.  The  most  important  of  these  to  the  study  of  conjure  has  been  the  denial  of 


1979):  182-192.  For  another  typical  article  on  Santeria,  see  Fred  Grimm,  "Ritual 
Sacrifices  Turn  Miami  River  Red,"  The  Miami  Herald  30  May  1981,  1B-2B.  For  a 
scholarly  work  on  Santeria,  see  Brandon,  Santeria  from  Africa  to  the  New  World. 

"Hamilton  Bims,  "Would  You  Believe  It . . .  Superstition  Lives!"  Ebony,  July 
1976,118-122. 

58See  Horace  Meyer  Kallen,  Culture  and  Democracy  in  the  United  States, 
American  Immigration  Collection,  Series  II  (New  York:  Arno  Press,  1970);  Franz  Boas, 
Anthropology  and  Modern  Life,  New  and  revised  ed.  (New  York:  W.  W.  Norton  and 
Company,  1932),  and  Margaret  Mead,  Coming  of  Age  in  Samoa:  A  Psychological  Study 
of  Primitive  Youth  for  Western  Civilization,  with  a  Foreword  by  Franz  Boas  (New  York: 
Blue  Ribbon  Books,  1932). 


31 
any  moral  authority  outside  of  the  individual.  In  practice,  this  has  led  to  an  ideology 
which  touts  fragmentation,  plurality,  and  indeterminacy  as  positive  values.  In  such  a 
worldview,  hoodoo  is  the  equal  of  Christianity  and  other  world  religions.59 

Together,  cultural  pluralism  and  postmodernism  prepared  Americans  for  the 
reappearance  of  hoodoo  in  print,  but  it  was  the  revival  of  mysticism  and  magical  practices 
during  the  1970s  that  ultimately  pushed  conjure  into  the  public  eye.  Known  as  the  New 
Age  Movement,  this  countercultural  collection  of  religions  mirrors  the  secular  forces  of 
cultural  pluralism  and  postmodernism,  and  like  them,  it  rejects  centralization  and  ultimate 
authority.  According  to  author  Melody  Baker,  New  Age  belief  consists  of  "a 
commitment  to  spiritual  growth  which  people  pursue  in  different  manners,  many 
considered  nontraditional  in  Western  culture"  in  which  "dogma  and  the  absence  of 
questioning  are  seen  as  obstacles  to  growth."60  Beginning  with  imported  Eastern 
mysticism  during  the  late  1960s,  the  New  Age  movement  quickly  drew  other  occult 
practices  under  its  wings,  including  forms  of  herbal  medicine,  extraterrestrial  worship, 
and  various  forms  of  witchcraft,  the  most  noticeable  of  which  has  been  Wicca,  a 
pseudohistorical  mixture  of  magic  and  goddess  worship.61 


59David  Harvey,  The  Condition  of  Postmodernity:  An  Enquiry  into  the  Origins  of 
Cultural  Change  (Cambridge  and  Oxford:  Blackwell,  1990),  see  especially  43.  See  also 
Arthur  M.  Schlesinger,  Jr.,  The  Disuniting  of  America  (New  York  and  London:  W.  W. 
Norton  and  Company,  1992). 

60Melody  Baker,  A  New  Consciousness:  The  True  Spirit  of  the  New  Age  (Duluth: 
New  Thought  Publishing,  1991),  15-16. 

61Mel  D.  Faber,  New  Age  Thinking:  A  Psychoanalytic  Critique,  Religion  and 
Beliefs  Series,  no.  5  (University  of  Ottawa  Press,  1996),  see  especially  1-16;  Robert 
Basil,  Not  Necessarily  the  New  Age:  Critical  Essays  (Buffalo:  Prometheus  Books,  1988). 
For  the  effects  of  cultural  pluralism  and  postmodernism  on  the  field  of  history,  see 
Novick,  415-629. 


32 
Initially,  conjure  failed  to  attract  much  attention  from  New  Agers.  It  was  too 
strongly  linked  to  American  culture  to  be  sufficiently  iconoclastic.  Nevertheless,  a  few 
authors  have  sought  to  merge  hoodoo  into  the  larger  New  Age  worldview.  One  of  the 
earliest  of  these  was  South  Carolinian  James  Edwin  McTeer,  author  of  Fifty  Years  as  a 
Low  Country  Witch  Doctor.  McTeer,  a  white  of  European  descent  also  practiced  African- 
American  hoodoo,  working  alongside  the  famed  Doctor  Buzzard.  Though  he  claimed  to 
be  "the  last  remaining  tie  with  the  true  African  witch  doctors,"  McTeer  explained  his 
powers  with  the  typical  New  Age  jargon  of  astral  planes,  extrasensory  perception,  and 
mediumship.62  Several  recent  works  on  hoodoo  also  follow  the  same  course.  For 
instance,  in  Company  of  Prophets:  African-American  Psychics,  Healers,  and  Visionaries, 
Joyce  Elaine  Noll  refers  to  mediums,  astral  projection,  and  reincarnation  alongside 
traditional  hoodoo  beliefs.  In  short,  by  building  on  the  foundation  of  cultural  pluralism 
and  postmodernism,  the  New  Age  Movement  has  both  lessened  the  stigma  attached  to 
blacks'  magical  practices  and  brought  positive  views  of  conjure  to  public  awareness.63 
Though  New  Age  ideology  has  been  primarily  a  provenance  of  white  society,  it 
has  also  opened  a  way  for  African- Americans  to  seize  upon  conjure  as  a  symbol  of  their 
identity.  Black  cultural  nationalism  has  provided  the  medium  through  which  hoodoo  has 
regained  a  prominent  role  in  African- American  literature.  As  the  equality-based  Civil 
Rights  Movement  declined  following  its  string  of  legal  and  political  victories  during  the 
early  1960s,  the  Black  Power  Movement  took  its  place.  Inspired  largely  by  the  writings 


62McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  12-20,  quoted  27. 


63  Joyce  Elaine  Noll,  Company  of  Prophets:  African  American  Psychics,  Healers, 
and  Visionaries  (St.  Paul:  Llewellyn  Publications,  1991). 


33 
of  Malcolm  X  and  Stokely  Carmichael,  its  militant  adherents  sought  African- American 
autonomy  and  self-reliance.  Some  joined  militant  organizations  like  the  Black  Panther 
Party,  which  was  prepared  to  use  force  to  advance  their  aims,  including  equal  political 
and  social  rights,  exemption  from  military  service,  and  full  employment  for  blacks.  More 
important  to  the  study  of  conjure,  however,  many  proponents  of  Black  Power  worked  to 
construct  a  version  of  African- American  history  and  culture  that  placed  blacks' 
achievements  on  par  with  that  of  whites.  By  doing  so,  members  of  the  Black  Power 
Movement  engaged  in  a  form  of  "identity  politics,"  which  offered  an  alternative  to 
Eurocentric  ideas  of  civilization  and  progress.64 

In  an  environment  of  New  Age  ideology  and  black  cultural  nationalism,  hoodoo 
became  a  symbol  of  African- American  resistance  to  white  culture.    The  works  of  poet 
Ishmael  Reed  exemplify  this  trend.  To  Reed,  the  hoodoo  doctor  was  and  is  a  trickster 
who  subverts  white  dominance  through  apparent  acceptance  of  his  or  her  assigned  role, 


MFor  two  of  the  most  popular  proponents  of  Black  Power,  see  Stokely  Carmichael 
and  Charles  V.  Hamilton,  Black  Power:  The  Politics  of  Liberation  America  (New  York: 
Random  House,  1967),  and  Malcolm  X  with  the  assistance  of  Alex  Haley,  The 
Autobiography  of  Malcolm  X,  with  an  Introduction  by  M.  S.  Handler  and  an  Epilogue  by 
Alex  Haley  (New  York:  Grove  Press,  1965).  See  also  Lawson,  In  Pursuit  of  Power,  and 
Schlesinger,  63-71,  73-99.  Black  Power's  drive  for  autonomy  formed  the  basis  of  what 
would  be  known  as  "Afrocentrism"  by  the  late  1980s.  Afrocentrism  is  an  intellectual 
movement  that  locates  the  origins  of  Western  culture  in  ancient  Egypt,  which  its 
proponents  imagine  to  have  been  peopled  by  blacks.  Intended  as  a  form  of  mental 
compensation  for  past  injustices,  this  expression  of  "multiculturalism"  is  simply  a  form  of 
cultural  chauvinism,  which  often  links  closely  to  racist  ideologies,  such  as  those 
propounded  by  the  Nation  of  Islam. 


34 
while  "driven  by  a  mocking  wit  that  subverts  white  authority  and  destroys  white  illusions 
of  superiority."65 

The  influence  of  Reed's  highly  intellectual  writings  pales  in  comparison  with  that 
of  works  aimed  at  black  popular  audiences.  The  most  important  of  these  has  been  James 
Haskins'  Voodoo  and  Hoodoo,  which  offers  a  brief  history  of  conjure,  summarized  from 
Puckett  and  other  earlier  authors,  followed  by  a  lengthy  collection  of  spells.  Later  writers 
have  followed  Haskins'  example,  providing  both  general  information  on  the  history  and 
practice  of  conjure  and  "practical"  knowledge  of  herbal  remedies,  spells,  and  divination. 
In  such  works,  conjure  is  an  integral  part  of  blacks'  African  heritage,  to  be  celebrated,  not 
condemned.66 

While  Haskins  and  his  imitators  have  helped  to  make  hoodoo  an  acceptable  part 
of  blackness,  a  few  have  followed  the  example  of  Ishmael  Reed,  making  individual 
conjurers  symbols  of  African- American  strength.  Marie  Laveau,  the  famed  nineteenth- 
century  "Voodoo  Queen"  of  New  Orleans  has  been  most  commonly  cast  in  this  role, 
becoming  a  personification  of  black  feminine  strength.  For  example,  for  a  1983  issue  of 
Ms.,  Jewell  Parker  Rhodes  wrote  that  it  is  Laveau's  "spirit  that,  generation  after 


65  James  Lindroth,  "Images  of  Subversion:  Ishmael  Reed  and  the  Hoodoo 
Trickster,"  African  American  Review  30  (1996):  185-196,  quoted  185.  For  some  of  his 
more  pertinent  works,  see  Ishmael  Reed,  Mumbo  Jumbo  (Garden  City:  Doubleday,  1972), 
and  Ishmael  Reed,  Conjure:  Selected  Poems,  1963-1970  (Amherst:  University  of 
Massachusetts  Press,  1972).  See  also  Shamoon  Zamir,  "An  Interview  with  Ishmael 
Reed,"  Callaloo  17  (1994):  1131-1157. 

66James  Haskins,  Voodoo  and  Hoodoo:  The  Craft  as  Revealed  by  Traditional 
Practitioners,  new  ed.  (Lanham,  New  York,  and  London:  Scarborough  House,  1990). 


35 

"67 


generation,  enters  a  woman's  body  whenever  a  woman  assumes  power."67  Khephra 
Burns  followed  a  similar  course  in  her  1992  article,  "The  Queen  of  Voodoo,"  stating,  "No 
woman  has  ever  been  more  revered  -  and  feared  -  than  New  Orleans'  Marie  Laveau,  who 
wielded  true  Black  Power."68  Hoodoo  has  come  a  long  way  from  the  late  nineteenth 
century,  when  it  was  but  a  survival  of  Negro  primitiveness.69 

How  does  this  third  wave  of  interest  compare  to  those  that  came  before?  Its 
growing  importance  to  blacks  can  be  seen  by  comparing  two  dictionaries  of  African- 
American  colloquialisms  compiled  by  Clarence  Major.  In  1970,  Major  published  his 
Dictionary  of  Afro-American  Slang.  It  has  only  a  few  entries  which  describe  conjuring 
practices,  most  notably  "conjuring  lodge,"  which  the  author  defines  as  "a  place  where 
mediumistic  practices  could  openly  take  place."70  Entries  for  terms  like  "hoodoo," 
"mojo,"  "tricking,"  and  even  "Voodoo"  are  absent.  Twenty-four  years  later,  Major 
produced  a  revised  version  of  his  dictionary,  renamed  Juba  to  Jive:  A  Dictionary  of 
African-American  Slang.  Not  only  does  the  new  version  include  the  missing  terms,  it 
expounds  upon  them  in  ways  that  emphasize  the  importance  of  conjure  to  black  history 
and  culture.  For  instance,  Juba  to  Jive  defines  a  "conjuring  lodge"  as  a  "sacred  house; 


67Jewell  Parker  Rhodes,  "Marie  Laveau,  Voodoo  Queen,"  Ms.  28  (January  1983): 
28-31,  quoted  31. 


68Khephra  Burns,  "The  Queen  of  Voodoo,"  Essence  23  (May  1992):  80. 

69See  also,  Faith  Mitchell,  Hoodoo  Medicine:  Gullah  Herbal  Remedies 
(Columbia:  Summerhouse  Press,  1 999),  and  Ray  T.  Malbrough,  Charms,  Spells,  and 
Formulas:  For  the  Making  and  Use  ofGris-Gris,  Herb  Candles,  Doll  Magick,  Incenses, 
Oils  and  Powders  .  .  .  To  Gain  Love,  protection,  Prosperity,  Luck,  and  Prophetic 
Dreams,  Llewellyn's  Practical  Magick  Series  (St.  Paul:  Llewellyn  Publications,  1986). 

70Clarence  Major,  Dictionary  of  Afro-American  Slang  (New  York:  International 
Publications,  1970),  s.v.  "conjuring  lodge." 


36 

church;  stemming  from  their  belief  in  the  power  of  the  conjurer,  black  Americans  during 
slavery  held  this  as  a  place  in  which  mediumistic  rites  and  principles  could  be  respected 
and  practiced.  It  is  not  unlike  the  Zuni  and  Hopi  kiva."71  Nevertheless,  while  books  on 
conjure,  ranging  from  Haskins'  Voodoo  and  Hoodoo  to  Doktor  Snake 's  Voodoo  Spell 
Book:  Spells,  Curses  and  Folk  Magic  for  All  Your  Needs  (with  a  free  "Lucky  Mojo 
Doll"),  are  easily  available  in  bookstores  and  on  the  Internet,  hoodoo  is  beyond  the  sphere 
of  most  Americans'  conception  of  black  society.72  Gone  are  the  days  when  major  news 
magazines  carried  tales  of  conjure  as  common  fare.  Moreover,  those  works  which  do 
appear  aim  at  African- American  and  New  Age  audiences,  excluding  most  white  general 
readers.  Nevertheless,  hoodooists  have  begun  to  make  occasional  appearances  in 
bestselling  works,  most  notably  John  Berendt's  Midnight  in  the  Garden  of  Good  and  Evil, 
a  fictionalized  history  of  a  Savannah,  Georgia,  murder,  which  includes  a  conjure  woman 
as  an  important  character.  Such  works  are  the  exception,  however.  Conjure  has  not 
become  the  important  factor  of  regional  and  racial  identity  that  it  was  during  the  late 
nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries.  Its  study  has  likewise  failed  to  become  an 
important  part  of  public  works  projects  as  during  the  days  of  the  FWP.  The  hoodoo 


71Clarence  Major,  Juba  to  Jive:  A  Dictionary  of  African-American  Slang  (New 
York:  Penguin  Books,  1994),  s.v.  "Hoodoo,"  "Mojo,"  "Tricking,"  and  "Voodoo,"  quoted 
from  s.v.  "Conjuring  lodge." 

72Ironically,  interest  in  conjure  has  been  less  centered  on  New  Orleans  than  in  the 
past,  with  a  growing  number  of  books  examining  magic  among  the  Gullah  people  of  the 
South  Carolina  Sea  Islands.  McTeer's  Fifty  Years  as  a  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor  was 
the  most  important  influence  on  this  trend.  For  a  entertaining  collection  based  heavily  on 
McTeer's  work,  see  Roger  Pinckney,  Blue  Roots:  African-American  Folk  Magic  of  the 
Gullah  People  (St.  Paul:  Llwellyn  Publications,  2000). 


37 
doctor,  though  perhaps  not  fully  invisible,  remains  at  best  translucent  in  popular 
conceptions  of  black  culture.73 

Scholarly  interest  in  conjure  has  fared  even  worse.  For  instance,  hoodoo  receives 
minimal  attention  in  the  standard  works  on  slave  culture,  most  of  which  appeared  during 
the  1970s  and  1980s.  Conjure  commands  only  brief  mentions  in  such  works  as  John  W. 
Blassingame's  The  Slave  Community,  George  P.  Rawick's  From  Sunup  to  Sundown,  and 
Charles  Joyner's  Down  by  the  Riverside.  Other  books,  like  Eugene  Genovese's  Roll, 
Jordan,  Roll,  Lawrence  Levine's  Black  Culture  and  Black  Consciousness,  and  Albert  J. 
Raboteau's  Slave  Religion  devote  more  space  to  conjuring.  Nevertheless,  these  accounts 
are  largely  descriptive,  and  their  analyses  generally  summarize  the  conclusions  set  forth 
in  Folk  Beliefs  of  the  Southern  Negro  and  other  early  works.74 

Scholars  in  general  and  historians  in  particular  are  reluctant  to  delve  more  deeply 
in  their  studies  of  hoodoo  for  a  variety  of  reasons.  First,  relatively  few  primary 
documents  address  conjure.  Sources  on  topics  such  as  slave  society,  black  culture,  and 


73Doktor  Snake,  Doktor  Snake 's  Voodoo  Spellbook:  Spells,  Curses  and  Folk 
Magic  for  All  Your  Needs  (New  York:  St.  Martin's  Press,  2000);  John  Berendt,  Midnight 
in  the  Garden  of  Good  and  Evil:  A  Savannah  Story  (New  York:  Random  House,  1994). 

74John  Blassingame,  The  Slave  Community:  Plantation  Life  in  the  Antebellum 
South,  2nd  ed.  (New  York  and  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press,  1979),  40-41,  109-1 13; 
George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography  (Westport: 
Greenwood  Publishing,  1972),  vol.  1,  From  Sunup  to  Sundown:  The  Making  of  the  Black 
Community,  by  George  P.  Rawick,  48-51;  Eugene  Genovese,  Roll,  Jordan,  Roll:  The 
World  the  Slaves  Made  (New  York:  Random  House,  1972),  215-224,231,  255;  Lawrence 
W.  Levine,  Black  Culture  and  Black  Consciousness:  Afro-American  Thought  from 
Slavery  to  Freedom  (New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1977),  55-80;  Albert  J. 
Raboteau,  Slave  Religion:  The  "Invisible  Institution  "  in  the  Antebellum  South  (Oxford 
and  New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1978),  75-87,  275-288;  Charles  Joyner,  Down 
by  the  Riverside:  A  South  Carolina  Slave  Community  (Urbana  and  Chicago:  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1984),  144-152. 


38 
even  African-American  Christianity  are  plentiful,  making  their  study  much  simpler.  Far 
more  important  than  the  lack  of  primary  materials,  however,  is  religious  prejudice. 
Scholars  tend  to  shy  away  from  supernatural  topics  because  of  their  own  secular 
worldviews.  They  prefer  to  rely  on  race,  class,  gender,  and  the  like  to  explain  historical 
development.  The  result  is  that  they  often  minimize  the  role  of  religious  beliefs  in 
history,  particularly  in  their  treatments  of  the  modern  world.  While  intellectuals  tend  to 
be  irreligious,  they  respect  magic  even  less.  After  all,  virtually  no  one,  scholar  or 
layperson,  would  admit  to  believing  in  sorcery  as  an  effective  practice.  A  paucity  of 
scholarship  has  been  the  consequence.  Racial  issues  have  also  kept  hoodoo  outside  of 
mainstream  scholarship.  For  some  African-American  scholars,  conjure  retains  its 
negative  image  from  years  past.  They  are  unwilling  to  tout  "superstition"  as  a  major 
force  in  black  history.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  have  accepted  conjure  as  part  of 
their  African- American  identity  frequently  oppose  any  attempt  by  white  authors  to 
address  the  topic.75 

Only  three  notable  exceptions  to  the  scholarly  trend  have  appeared.  The  first  of 
these  to  appear  was  Harry  Middleton  Hyatt's  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork, 
published  in  five  volumes  between  1970  and  1978.  This  massive  work  is  a  collection  of 
transcripts  of  interviews  addressing  hoodoo,  mostly  undertaken  during  the  1930s  and 


75Lest  the  readers  dismiss  my  brief  discussion  of  the  racial  politics  as  mere 
speculation,  I  must  state  that  I  have  personally  encountered  it.  For  example,  I  once 
attempted  to  publish  an  essay  on  hoodoo.  An  anonymous  reviewer  rejected  it  on  the 
grounds  that  it  was  "racially  insensitive"  and  "insulting."  On  another  occasion,  an 
African- American  author  who  had  published  works  on  hoodoo  strongly  discouraged  me 
from  writing  on  the  subject.  One  of  his  stated  reasons  was  that  I  was  not  black. 


39 

1940s.76  Though  it  contains  a  wealth  of  primary  material,  its  chaotic  organization  and 
brief  printing  run  of  only  six  hundred  copies  for  the  first  two  volumes  have  minimized  its 
influence.77 

Theophus  Smith's  investigation  of  African- American  theology,  Conjuring 
Culture:  Biblical  Formations  of  Black  America,  has  likewise  had  little  impact  on  studies 
of  conjure.  Smith  argues  that  West  African  religions  mingled  with  European  Christianity 
to  produce  a  "conjuring  culture,"  still  evident  in  modern  black  society.  Conjurers,  says 
Smith,  must  be  recognized  as  more  than  sorcerers.  On  the  contrary,  their  magic  offers  a 
means  to  magically  heal,  or  transform,  society,  and  within  this  worldview,  the  Bible  has 
become  the  chief  conjure  tool.  Like  the  work  of  A.  M.  Bacon,  almost  one  hundred  years 
before,  Conjuring  Culture  outlines  an  underlying  logic  to  black  folk  beliefs  through  its 
classification  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  by  their  specific  magical  function.78  Smith's  book 
has  largely  failed  to  influence  scholars  due  to  its  highly-specialized  approach.  In  addition 
to  its  narrow  focus,  its  prose  is  a  difficult  mass  of  technical  terms,  comprehensible  only  to 
scholars  of  theology.79 


76Hyatt  became  interested  in  conjure  while  conducting  research  for  his  pioneering 
book,  Folk-Lore  from  Adams  County  Illinois,  a  work  which  he  intended  as  a  record  of  all 
aspects  of  folklore  within  a  single  rural  county.  He  amassed  much  information  dealing 
with  magic,  including  hoodoo,  which  he  later  included  in  his  book.  See  Harry  Middleton 
Hyatt,  Folk-Lore  from  Adam 's  County  Illinois  (New  York:  Memoirs  of  the  Alma  Egan 
Hyatt  Foundation,  1935),  especially  455-545. 

77Harry  Middleton  Hyatt,  Hoodoo  -  Conjuration  -  Witchcraft  -  Rootwork,  5  vols., 
Memoirs  of  the  Alma  Egan  Hyatt  Foundation  (Hannibal:  Western  Publishing  Company, 
1970-1978). 

78Smith  uses  the  spelling  "conjuror"  to  emphasize  his  interpretation. 

79Theophus  H.  Smith,  Conjuring  Culture:  Biblical  Formations  of  Black  America 
(New  York  and  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press,  1994). 


40 
By  far  the  most  readable  and  innovative  work  to  appear  in  recent  years  has  been 
Carolyn  Morrow  Long's  2001  book,  Spiritual  Merchants:  Religion,  Magic,  and 
Commerce.  Following  brief  summaries  of  antebellum  and  early  twentieth-century 
hoodoo,  Spiritual  Merchants  examines  the  development  of  conjure  as  a  commodity, 
manufactured  and  distributed  to  "spiritual  supply  stores"  for  the  use  of  do-it-yourself 
conjurers.  Long's  work  is  one  of  the  most  important  works  on  hoodoo  yet  produced,  but 
its  author  is  not  a  professional  scholar,  which  will  hamper  its  acceptance  by  the  academic 
community.  Only  time  will  reveal  the  extent  of  its  influence.  Despite  the  efforts  of 
Hyatt,  Smith,  and  Long  conjure  remains  unfamiliar  territory  to  most  students  of  black 
culture.80 

Though  studies  of  conjure  have  grown  more  numerous  over  the  past  three 
decades,  they  have  failed  to  return  hoodoo  to  most  Americans'  conception  of  black 
society.  Moreover,  the  third  wave  of  interest  in  conjure  cannot  compare  to  the  two  which 
erupted  during  the  late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries  and  during  the  years 
between  the  world  wars.  Hoodoo's  continued  obscurity  leaves  a  fertile  field  for 
historians,  who  have  yet  to  answer  several  important  questions.  For  example,  the  old 
problem  of  whether  conjure  is  primarily  an  African  or  European  legacy  has  yet  to  be 
satisfactorily  resolved.  Recent  authors  addressing  hoodoo  have  tended  to  uncritically 
assume  that  it  is  of  primarily  African  origin,  giving  little  attention  to  other  influences.  In 
addition,  so  far,  only  Caroline  Morrow  Long  has  examined  hoodoo's  regional  variations 
in  any  detail.  Most  important,  almost  all  authors,  scholarly  or  popular,  have  treated 


80Carolyn  Morrow  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants:  Religion,  Magic,  and  Commerce 
(Knoxville:  University  of  Tennessee  Press,  2001). 


41 
conjure  as  a  timeless  phenomenon.  On  the  contrary,  it  adapted  to  changing 
circumstances,  remaining  an  important  part  of  African- American  society  from  antebellum 
times  to  the  present. 


CHAPTER  1 

THE  CONJURERS'  WORLD: 

THE  SOCIAL  CONTEXT  OF  HOODOO  IN  NINETEENTH-CENTURY  BLACK  LIFE 

One  spring  day  in  1890,  Samuel  C.  Taylor  took  a  train  which  briefly  stopped  just 

south  of  Tuscumbia,  Tennessee.  There,  an  unusual  African- American  man  boarded  the 

train.  His  shaved  head  sported  a  fist-sized  tuft  just  above  the  forehead.  The  stranger's 

clothes  were  equally  bizarre,  consisting  most  notably  of  three  coats,  all  composed  of  a 

patchwork  of  multiple  materials  and  colors.  Under  his  coats,  numerous  chains  of  brass, 

silver  plate,  and  iron  encircled  his  body  from  neck  to  waist.  A  peg  in  place  of  his  right 

leg  completed  the  odd  picture.  During  his  brief  stay  on  the  train,  he  conversed  with 

numerous  passengers,  including  a  northern  immigrant  seeking  political  office,  who  asked 

the  black  man  for  his  backing  in  the  upcoming  election.  Throughout  his  conversations, 

the  stranger  sipped  from  a  bottle  which  Taylor  initially  believed  contained  gin.  After  a 

half  hour,  the  man  left  the  train.  Through  the  words  of  a  black  porter,  Taylor  learned  that 

he  had  just  encountered  a  hoodoo  doctor.  The  bottle  from  which  the  conjurer  drank 

contained  a  magical  potion.  To  his  surprise,  he  also  found  that  the  hoodooist  was  "by  far 

the  most  influential  man  in  [that]  part  of  the  state,"  a  leader  among  members  of  his  race.1 

Moreover,  the  hoodoo  doctor  had  studied  medicine  and  used  his  potion,  along  with  a 


'Samuel  C.  Taylor,  "A  Hoodoo  Doctor,  30  April  1890,"  photocopy,  p.  80, 
William  L.  Clements  Library,  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor. 

42 


43 
magical  ring  and  incantations,  to  cure  a  variety  of  afflictions,  with  a  supposedly  ninety- 
percent  success  rate.2 

As  Samuel  Taylor's  encounter  illustrates,  nineteenth-century  conjurers  were  often 
central  figures  in  African- American  society.  Taylor's  conjurer  was  a  potent  political 
force  among  members  of  his  race,  to  the  extent  that  he  undertook  monthly  tours  of  his 
"constituency."  Furthermore,  as  the  narrator  discovered,  compared  to  most  blacks  of  his 
day,  the  hoodoo  doctor  was  a  wealthy  man,  wearing  a  suit  when  "off-duty"  and  living  in 
an  expensive  home  just  outside  of  town.  Although  operating  in  the  worldly  realm  of 
politics,  he  also  relied  on  the  supernatural  to  cure  sickness.  Moreover,  it  was  his  occult 
knowledge  which  gave  him  social  prestige.3  In  the  nineteenth-century  African- American 
world,  hoodoo  doctors  held  a  major  stake  in  both  the  "natural"  world  of  politics  and 
economics  and  the  shadowy  world  of  the  supernatural. 

The  key  to  conjurers'  temporal  power  was  the  African- American  belief  in  the 
supernatural  potency  of  hoodoo.  How  widespread  were  such  convictions? 
Archaeological  investigation  in  Virginia  and  Maryland  has  uncovered  remains  of 
conjuring  "caches,"  the  contents  of  bags,  bottles,  and  the  like  that  once  held  magical 
materials,  in  slave  dwellings  as  early  as  1702.  Occasionally,  the  historical  record  also 
reveals  examples  of  colonial  conjuring.  The  best  known  of  these  was  the  event  which  set 
off  the  Salem  witchcraft  scare.  The  adolescent  girls  who  initiated  the  accusations  began 
their  involvement  with  magic  by  practicing  fortune-telling  with  a  slave  by  the  name  of 
Tituba,  who  had  learned  some  magic  during  an  earlier  period  of  enslavement  in 


2Ibid,  77-80. 
3Ibid. 


44 
Barbados.4  In  addition,  references  to  slave  "doctors"  in  colonial  and  early  republican 
newspapers  most  likely  refer  to  root  workers,  rather  than  practitioners  of  scientific 
medicine.  For  instance,  a  1792  article  in  The  Massachusetts  Magazine  reported  on  a 
South  Carolina  slave,  named  Cesar,  who  had  reportedly  discovered  the  cures  for 
rattlesnake  bites  and  for  ingested  poisons.  The  South  Carolina  Assembly  proved  so 
grateful  that  they  "purchased  his  freedom,  and  gave  him  an  annuity  of  one  hundred 
pounds."5  While  the  Assembly  doubtless  thought  of  Cesar's  cures  as  scientifically  based, 
blacks  along  the  Atlantic  often  understood  poisoning  as  a  result  of  malevolent  spells.6  A 
large  number  of  blacks  continued  to  believe  in  conjure  on  the  eve  of  the  Civil  War,  as 
demonstrated  in  the  slave  narratives  collected  by  the  Works  Progress  Administration 
during  the  Great  Depression.  According  to  Sam  Jordan,  originally  from  Alabama,  all 
slaves  "wore  a  silver  dime  on  a  raw  cotton  thread  around  their  ankles  to  keep  from  being 
voodooed."7  Even  if  Jordan's  estimate  that  all  slaves  believed  in  conjure  was  an 
exaggeration,  the  level  of  faith  was  high  in  the  antebellum  South.  Furthermore,  conjure 
was  not  the  provenance  of  a  single  state  or  region.  Long  present  along  the  Atlantic  Coast 


4Though  authors  have  traditionally  portrayed  Tituba  as  black,  she  was  more  likely 
a  South  American  Indian  or  mixed  Native  American  and  black.  See  Elaine  G.  Breslaw, 
"Tituba's  Confession:  The  Multicultural  Dimensions  of  the  1692  Salem  Witch-Hunt," 
Ethnohistory  44  (1997):  535-556. 

5"The  Negro  Cesar's  Cure  for  Poison,"  The  Massachusetts  Magazine  4  (1792): 
103. 

6For  a  later  instance  in  which  "poison"  specifically  denotes  magical  influence,  see 
R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30. 

7Sam  Jordan,  interview  by  J.S.  Thomas  (Oklahoma  City,  OK,  7  June  1937),  The 
WPA  Oklahoma  Slave  Narratives,  T.  Lindsay  Baker  and  Julie  P.  Baker,  eds.  (Norman  and 
London:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1996),  234-235. 


45 
and  in  Louisiana,  hoodoo  had  spread  throughout  the  South  by  1860.  During  the  1850s, 
Abbe  Emmanuel  Henri  Dieudonne  Domenech,  a  Catholic  missionary,  reported  an 
encounter  with  hoodoo  along  the  Texas-Mexico  border.  According  to  Domenech' s 
report,  a  young  European  man  went  insane  after  refusing  to  marry  a  woman  he  had 
seduced.  The  man  recovered  only  by  following  the  advice  of  a  black  native  of  New 
Orleans,  who  told  him  that  he  was  under  the  vengeful  influence  of  Voodoo  and  that  only 
marriage  to  his  former  sweetheart  would  cure  him.  Once  the  wedding  took  place,  the 
man  recovered.8 

African-Americans'  faith  in  conjure  remained  strong  following  emancipation. 
Although  most  black  and  white  educational  reformers  thought  of  hoodoo  as  "an  absurd 
superstitious  folly  that  should  speedily  be  rooted  out,"  they  nevertheless  recognized  that  it 
remained  strong  in  the  South,  "where  people  are  not  so  enlightened  as  they  are  in  other 
parts  of  the  country."9  Some  observers  noted  an  increase  in  belief  in  hoodoo  following 
emancipation.  Historian  Philip  A.  Bruce  stated  that  freedom  fostered  conjure  by 
removing  blacks  from  close  contact  with  whites,  who  had  held  slaves'  natural 
emotionalism  and  intellectual  predilections  toward  "superstition"  in  check.  The  writings 
of  some  planters  identify  an  identical  trend.  James  Sparkman,  a  South  Carolina  planter, 
reported  that  blacks  relapsed  into  "fetishism"  following  emancipation.  Of  course,  Bruce 


8Mark  P.  Leone  and  Gladys-Marie  Fry,  "Conjuring  in  the  Big  House  Kitchen:  An 
Interpretation  of  African  American  Belief  Systems  Based  on  the  Uses  of  Archaeology  and 
Folklore  Sources,"  Journal  of  American  Folklore  1 12  (1999):  383;  Breslaw,  535-556; 
Emmanuel  Henri  Dieudonne  Domenech,  Missionary  Adventures  in  Texas  and  Mexico:  A 
Personal  Narrative  of  Six  Years '  Sojourn  in  Those  Regions  (London:  Longman,  Brown, 
Green,  Longmans,  and  Roberts,  1858),  303-308. 

9R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30. 


46 
and  Sparkman,  as  members  of  the  white  ruling  class,  are  questionable  as  sources  of  black 
folk  belief.  Bruce,  in  particular,  was  trying  to  use  conjure  to  demonstrate  that  blacks  had 
descended  into  savagery  following  the  removal  of  the  benefits  of  direct  white  oversight. 
At  any  rate,  exact  figures  for  believers  are  unavailable  for  the  postbellum  period,  but 
informants  for  Harry  Middleton  Hyatt's  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork 
provided  several  estimates  made  by  trick  doctors  practicing  in  the  1930s  and  1940s,  many 
of  whom  learned  their  craft  in  the  previous  century.  In  addition  to  being  more  exact  than 
Bruce  and  Sparkman,  virtually  all  of  Hyatt's  interviewees  were  African- American.  These 
hoodoo  doctors  from  areas  as  widely  separated  as  Norfolk,  Virginia  and  New  Orleans, 
Louisiana,  agreed  that  more  than  half  of  African  Americans  believed  in  such  magic. 
"Undercover  Man"  of  New  Orleans  provided  one  of  the  lowest  estimates,  simply  stating 
that  a  majority  believed,  but  both  "Faith  Doctor"  of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  and  "Zorro  the 
Mentalist"  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  suggested  figures  as  high  as  nine  out  often.  These 
interviews,  though  carried  out  long  after  the  demise  of  slavery,  testify  to  the  strength  of 
African- Americans'  beliefs,  despite  decades  of  improved  education  and  exposure  to 
scientific  principles  following  emancipation.10 

Surprisingly,  a  number  of  Hyatt's  informants  argued  that  whites  were  also  strong 
believers  in  hoodoo,  with  "Faith  Doctor"  maintaining  that  50  percent  held  faith  in,  and 
sometimes  practiced,  conjure.  Contemporary  sources  bear  out  this  assertion.  Whether 
learned  from  black  "mammies,"  personal  encounters  with  conjurers,  or  otherwise,  the  fear 


10Bruce,  120-121;  James  R.  Sparkman,  "The  Negro,"  Sparkman  Family  Papers, 
Southern  Historical  Collection,  University  of  North  Carolina,  Chapel  Hill;  quoted  in 
Charles  Joyner,  Down  by  the  Riverside:  A  South  Carolina  Slave  Community  (Urbana  and 
Chicago:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1984),  144;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  ii-iii. 


47 
of  hoodoo  maintained  a  firm  grasp  over  a  significant  portion  of  white  Southerners.  For 
example,  Martin  Posey,  a  South  Carolinian  planter,  hired  a  root  doctor,  named  Jeff,  to 
keep  his  slaves  healthy.  Upon  discovering  that  Jeff  practiced  magic,  Posey  offered  to  buy 
his  freedom  in  exchange  for  killing  his  new  master's  wife.  Jeff,  however,  apparently 
insisted  on  obtaining  his  freedom  first  and  did  not  do  so."  Similarly,  according  to 
Bertram  Wyatt-Brown's  Southern  Honor,  white  Virginians  feared  conjurers  because  of 
their  supposed  ability  to  kill  or  seduce  whites  by  using  magic.  In  New  Orleans,  observers 
of  Voodoo  rites  regularly  reported  white  participation,  and  Louisiana's  Creole  elites  were 
not  above  using  black  magic  to  their  own  ends.12 

While  whites'  belief  in  the  hoodoo  of  the  supposedly  inferior  blacks  may  be 
surprising  to  some,  it  is  less  so  when  one  bears  in  mind  that  the  peoples  of  Europe  and  the 
American  colonies  had  a  long  believed  in  their  own  forms  of  witchcraft.  The  New 
England  witch  scares  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  cases  in  point.  Backwoods 
southern  whites  continued  to  fear  sorcery  well  into  the  twentieth  century,  stories  of  which 
are  told  throughout  Appalachia  to  this  day.  A  few  whites  even  practiced  African- 


1 'Posey  eventually  convinced  another  slave,  named  Appling,  to  murder  his  wife. 
After  Appling  succeeded  in  drowning  the  hapless  woman,  Posey  murdered  him  to  hide 
the  crime.  Eventually,  Posey  was  convicted  of  both  crimes. 

12Helen  Tunnicliff  Catterall,  ed.,  Judicial  Cases  Concerning  American  Slavery 
and  the  Negro,  5  vols.  (New  York:  Negro  Universities  Press,  1926;  reprint,  1968),  vol.  2, 
413-414.  See  also  Marie  B.  Williams,  "A  Night  with  the  Voudous,"  Appleton  's  Journal: 
A  Magazine  of  General  Literature  13  (1875):  404;  Bertram  Wyatt-Brown,  Southern 
Honor:  Ethics  and  Behavior  in  the  Old  South  (New  York  and  Oxford:  Oxford  University 
Press,  1982),  313,  315-316,  424-425;  Helen  Pitkin,  An  Angel  by  Brevet:  A  Story  of 
Modern  New  Orleans  (Philadelphia  and  London:  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  1904). 
Pitkin's  novel,  though  fictional,  relies  on  factual  accounts  of  upper-class  white 
involvement  with  African- American  magic.  For  further  examples,  see  Robert  Tallant, 
Voodoo  in  New  Orleans  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1946;  reprint,  Gretna:  Pelican 
Publishing  Company,  1998). 


48 
American  hoodoo  as  a  profession.  The  most  significant  of  these  was  Dr.  Buzzard  of 
South  Carolina.  His  fame  was  such  that  a  succession  of  black  conjurers  adopted  his 
sobriquet.13 

Did  this  widespread  faith  in  hoodoo  clash  with  Christianity?  A  few  blacks 
accepted  the  Biblical  injunction,  "There  shall  not  be  found  among  you  any  one  that 
maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire,  or  that  useth  divination,  or  an 
observer  of  times,  or  an  enchanter,  or  a  witch,  or  a  charmer,  or  a  consulter  with  familiar 
spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a  necromancer."14  One  such  was  William  Wells  Brown,  a  former 
slave,  who  equated  hoodoo  and  the  service  of  the  devil  in  My  Southern  Home.  For 
average  African- Americans,  however,  Christianity  and  conjure  were  not  mutually 
exclusive  systems  of  belief.  Most  nineteenth-century  black  Americans  considered 
themselves  Christians.  Nevertheless,  conjure  remained  an  important  part  of  their 
understandings  of  the  supernatural.  The  reason  for  this  was  that  hoodoo  filled  a  separate 
niche  in  their  spiritual  world.  Unlike  Christian  ministers,  conjurers  performed  rituals  for 
the  sake  of  controlling  or  manipulating  spiritual  powers,  not  for  worship  purposes.  Thus, 
conjure  was  a  form  of  utilitarian,  pragmatic  spirituality.  Nevertheless,  some  Christian 
ministers  also  acted  as  hoodoo  doctors.  For  instance,  Mary  Livermore,  a  northerner  who 
spent  three  years  on  an  antebellum  plantation,  recorded  that  she  once  encountered  a 


13Patrick  W.  Gainer,  Witches,  Ghosts,  and  Signs:  Folklore  of  the  Southern 
Appalachians  (Morgantown:  Seneca  Books,  1975),  135-177;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo- 
Conjuration-  Witchcraft-Rootwork,  iii-iv. 

14Deuteronomy  18:10-11. 


49 
combination  conjurer-preacher,  known  as  "Uncle"  Aaron,  who  exhorted  believers  to 
follow  God  from  the  pulpit,  while  raising  evil  spirits  outside  of  the  walls  of  the  church.15 

The  power  of  hoodoo  translated  into  enormous  influence  within  the  black 
community  for  successful  conjurers.  Traditionally,  historians  have  depicted  black 
preachers  as  the  most  important  leaders  to  emerge  from  within  African- American 
communities.  Although  the  influence  of  preachers  was  undeniable,  they  had  powerful 
rivals  in  conjurers.  While  black  preachers  held  sway  over  their  congregations  as  teachers 
of  God's  word,  who  brought  messages  of  righteousness,  hope,  and  love,  hoodooists  had 
the  power  to  harm  and  heal  on  a  whim.16  Some  observers  asserted  that  conjurers,  not 
preachers,  were  the  strongest  power  in  black  communities.  Writing  in  1889,  Philip  Bruce 
stated  that  a  "trick  doctor  is  invested  with  even  more  power  than  a  preacher,  since  he  is 
regarded  with  the  respect  that  fear  excites."17  While  Bruce  was  a  white  author,  who 
displayed  the  condescending  racism  of  his  time,  black  observers  often  agreed  with  his 
conclusions.  In  1878,  a  person  going  by  the  initial  "S.,"  wrote  to  a  former  instructor  at 
the  Hampton  Institute  to  report  on  his  experience  teaching  black  children  in  Virginia. 
The  letter,  later  published  in  Southern  Workman,  stated  that  fear  of  "cunning,"  an 
uncommon  Virginia  term  for  African- American  conjure,  was  pervasive.  Moreover, 
though  the  author  protested  that  he  or  she  did  not  believe  in  conjure,  the  testimonies  of  so 
many  eyewitnesses  to  its  effects  persuaded  him  or  her  to  write,  "I  have  not  said  a  word 


15Brown,  My  Southern  Home,  68;  Mary  A.  Livermore,  The  Story  of  My  Life,  or  the 
Sunshine  and  Shadow  of  Seventy  Years  (Hartford:  A.  D.  Worthington  and  Company, 
1897),  254-258. 

16Raboteau,  231-239. 

17Bruce,  115. 


50 
about  cunning  since,  and  never  intend  to;  for  they  can  poison  you  anyhow,  for  the  devil 
seems  to  be  at  the  helm  .  . .  They  die  here  like  sheep."18 

Fear  of  conjure  was  a  result  of  hoodooists'  reputed  ability  to  harm  others  through 
magic.  Trick  doctors  typically  cast  their  spells  at  the  urging  of  a  paying  client,  but  many 
simply  practiced  their  craft  out  of  personal  animus  to  their  victims.  One  of  conjurers' 
most  dreaded  and  common  means  of  inflicting  death  or  serious  illness  on  unwitting 
victims  was  causing  animals  to  inhabit  the  body  of  a  person.  For  instance,  according  to 
several  reports,  snakes  were  frequently  visible  moving  under  the  skin  of  the  conjured, 
sometimes  even  peering  from  the  victims'  mouths.19 

Other  complaints  common  to  people  magically  afflicted  were  "locked  bowels"  (a 
term  denoting  terminal  constipation),  "running  crazy,"  and  other  illnesses  causing  death 
or  permanent  disability.  While  written  accounts  of  locked  bowels  were  uncommon  in  the 
Victorian  world,  they  are  common  in  later  sources.  Roland  Steiner,  a  Georgia  planter, 
offered  a  rare  nineteenth-century  formula  for  inducing  constipation.  Speaking  from  long 
experience  with  hoodoo  and  its  victims,  he  stated  that  some  stopped  bowels  by  "getting 
the  excrement  of  the  person  to  be  cunjered,  boring  a  hole  in  a  tree,  and  putting  the 
excrement  in  the  hole,  and  driving  a  plug  in  tight."20  Only  by  finding,  unplugging,  and 
then  burning  the  tree  could  the  victim  be  healed.  During  his  research  in  the  1930s,  Hyatt 
found  cases  throughout  the  South.  One  informant  stated  that  by  stopping  up  a  man  or 
woman's  excrement  in  a  bottle  and  then  throwing  it  in  running  water  would  cause  his  or 


18S.,  in  "Letters  from  Hampton  Graduates,"  Southern  Workman  7  (1878):  28. 
19Bacon,  210;  R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30. 
20Steiner,  "Observations,"  179. 


51 
her  mind  to  drift,  followed  by  constipation,  suffering,  and  ultimately  death.  Cases  of 
insanity  rumored  to  be  magically  induced  were  common  in  nineteenth-century  writings. 
Reporting  on  a  time  just  after  the  Civil  War,  a  white  man  told  Hyatt  that  his  great-aunt 
had  once  been  driven  insane  by  conjure,  brought  on  by  a  rival  who  had  supposedly  stolen 
some  of  her  hair,  bound  it  with  a  cord,  and  buried  it  under  a  brick  beside  the  grave  of  the 
victim's  brother.  She  only  discovered  the  cause  of  her  mental  problem  by  consulting  a 
famed  Maryland  conjurer,  "Aunt  Zippy"  Tull,  who  successfully  cured  her  by  locating  the 
charm  and  instructing  her  to  remove  and  burn  the  hair.21 

Many  acts  of  conjurers  simply  caused  bad  luck,  discomfort,  or  other 
inconveniences.  For  instance,  some  antebellum  hoodooists  sold  "hush  water"  that 
African- American  men  gave  to  their  wives  to  keep  them  quietly  obedient.  In  some 
unusual  reports,  hoodooists  could  even  stop  steamboats  from  reaching  their  destinations, 
halting  their  progress  or  turning  them  around  through  magic,  when  it  suited  their 
purposes.  Such  was  the  case  with  "Old  Jule,"  an  antebellum  conjure  woman,  who  had 
supposedly  killed  so  many  slaves  through  supernatural  means  that  her  master  determined 
to  sell  her.  According  to  stories,  Old  Jule  could  not  be  so  easily  disposed  of.  When  night 
fell,  she  caused  the  steamboat  to  run  in  reverse.  The  result  was  that  she  forced  her  master 
to  keep  her,  allowing  her  to  continue  her  depredations.22  While  these  accounts  and 


21Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  5-6,  2618.  See  also  Wayland 
Hand,  "Plugging,  Nailing,  Wedging,  and  Kindred  Folk  Medical  Practices,"  in  Folklore  & 
Society:  Essays  in  Honor  of  Benjamin  A.  Botkin,  ed.  Bruce  Jackson  (Hatboro:  Folklore 
Associates,  1966),  63-75. 

22Irene  Poole,  "Hush  Water  for  Talkative  Women,"  interview  by  Susie  R.  O'Brien 
(Uniontown,  AL,  10  June  1937),  The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography, 
George  P.  Rawick,  ed.  (Westport:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1972),  vol.  6,  320- 
322;  "Some  Conjure  Doctors  We  Have  Heard  Of,"  Southern  Workman  26  (1897):  37-38. 


52 
similar  tales  of  the  mighty  deeds  of  conjurers  were  doubtless  elaborated  with  fertile  doses 
of  imagination,  they  nevertheless  testify  to  the  fear  associated  with  hoodooists'  powers. 
To  a  believer,  such  fear  was  wise  in  light  of  the  illnesses  or  death  that  were  always 
potential  consequences  of  incurring  the  wrath  of  someone  with  access  to  such  awesome 
ability  to  harm.23 

Negative  evaluations  of  hoodooists  were  the  norm  in  printed  sources,  virtually  all 
of  which  were  composed  by  scientifically-educated  whites  and  blacks,  who  did  not 
respect  and  often  opposed,  conjure.  To  believers,  however,  hoodoo  also  had  a  positive 
side.  Although  many  blacks  distrusted  hoodooists  for  the  evil  they  could  perform,  they 
also  respected  them  as  potential  agents  for  good,  providing  hope  where  none  existed 
otherwise.  For  example,  while  animals  in  the  body  and  locked  bowels  were  usually  a 
result  of  conjure,  magic  could  also  cure  such  maladies.24  In  fact,  only  wizardry  could  cure 
a  victim  of  wicked  hoodoo.  In  a  letter  to  Southern  Workman,  a  witness  reported  that  in 
1873  a  conjurer  cured  a  woman  he  knew  of  an  unusual  sickness  which  involved  pains  in 
her  head  and  side  as  well  as  the  sensation  that  something  was  rising  in  her  throat.  After 
diagnosing  her  sickness  through  the  use  of  cards,  the  conjurer  revealed  that  she  had  been 
hoodooed  through  a  cup  of  tea  which  she  drank  at  a  wedding.  To  heal  her,  he  mixed  her 
another  tea  of  various  roots  and  herbs.  Five  minutes  after  drinking  the  tea,  a  scorpion 


23A  variety  of  preventatives  existed  to  prevent  being  conjured.  Keeping  "frizzly" 
chickens  in  one's  yard,  wearing  silver  dimes  around  one's  ankles,  and  carrying  a  bone 
from  a  black  cat  were  but  a  few  ways  to  do  so.  Despite  purportedly  adverting  conjure, 
these  practices  help  illustrate  its  negative  power.  Only  more  magic  could  thwart  the 
power  of  evil  conjure. 

24When  operating  as  one  who  removes  spells,  these  sorcerers  were  often  called 
"healers,"  "conjure  doctors,"  "hoodoo  doctors,"  or  similar  appellations,  referring  to  their 
benevolent  actions. 


53 
issued  from  the  woman's  mouth,  apparently  curing  the  victim.  Often,  conjure  doctors 
cured  illnesses  simply  by  revealing  how  the  affected  person  had  been  afflicted.  Reporting 
on  an  event  of  the  late  nineteenth  century,  one  of  Hyatt's  informants  told  that  a  young 
woman  had  been  cured  of  insanity  when  a  hoodoo  doctor  helped  her  father  locate  an  evil 
charm  that  had  been  buried  at  the  corner  of  her  home.  Digging  into  the  soil,  her  father 
discovered  a  barrel  containing  a  silhouette  of  the  woman  cut  from  black  cloth,  pierced 
with  pins  and  needles.  Once  he  had  uncovered  and  removed  the  source  of  the  madness, 
the  woman  quickly  recovered.25 

Although  scholars  quickly  dismiss  magic  as  either  cause  or  cure  of  maladies, 
hoodoo  possessed  some  actual  powers  to  harm.  In  rare  cases,  conjurers  may  have  used 
poison.  Just  as  deadly,  however,  was  the  mind  of  the  victim.  Modern  anthropology, 
psychology,  and  medicine  address  hoodoo  as  a  question  of  psychosomatic  illness. 
According  to  Walter  B.  Cannon's  classic  article,  "Voodoo  Death,"  curses  harmed  their 
victims  in  two  "movements."  The  first  of  these  was  a  process  of  social  isolation,  during 
which  suffers'  friends  and  family  withdrew  in  fear.  At  the  same  time,  the  afflicted  rarely 
sought  out  communal  support.  Instead,  they  usually  followed  the  suggestions  of  their 
fellows,  accepting  their  fate.  In  a  second  movement,  the  communities  typically  returned 
to  the  cursed  persons  just  before  they  died  in  order  to  mourn.  The  movements  heightened 
victims'  dread,  resulting  in  extreme  psychological  stress.  Cannon  concluded  that  the 


25R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  332; 
Bacon,  210-211. 


54 
strain  harmed  the  conjured  by  injecting  heightened  levels  of  adrenaline  into  the  blood.26 
The  result  was  constricted  blood  vessels.  Over  a  prolonged  period,  bodily  organs  would 
suffer  from  insufficient  oxygen  because  of  decreased  blood  flow.  Sufferers  frequently 
experienced  a  lack  of  appetite  as  well.  Thus,  undernourishment  and  dehydration  were 
constant  dangers.  In  other  cases,  fear  could  simply  exacerbate  existing  psychological  and 
physiological  problems,  leading  to  insanity,  heart  attacks,  gastrointestinal  problems,  and 
other  ailments.  Once  again,  conjure  worked  through  faith.27 

While  faith  in  hoodoo  could  harm,  it  could  also  heal.  In  the  most  basic  sense,  it 
offered  hope  of  recovery,  leading  the  afflicted  to  rally.  Philip  Bruce,  though  no  admirer 
of  black  folk  beliefs,  professed  his  astonishment  at  conjure's  power  to  heal.  In  his  own 
words,  the  idea  that  magic  can  offer  a  cure  "causes  a  sudden  revulsion  of  joy  as  soon  as  it 
is  realized,  and  as  the  stages  of  recuperation  advance  towards  a  complete  recovery, 
confidence  takes  the  place  of  doubt  and  anxiety."28  When  the  ailment  was  a 
psychosomatic  one,  conjure  was  all  the  more  useful.  Modern  medicine  has  provided 
many  examples  of  its  efficacy.  For  instance,  in  one  twentieth-century  case,  a  man  who 
had  hallucinations  that  a  friend  was  trying  to  kill  him  by  conjure  was  admitted  to  a 


26When  anthropologists  use  the  term  "Voodoo  death,"  it  refers  to  curses  in 
general.  Therefore,  they  view  African- American  conjure  as  but  one  manifestation  of  a 
widespread  phenomenon. 

"Walter  B.  Cannon,  "Voodoo  Death,"  American  Anthropologist  44  (1942); 
reprinted  in  Psychosomatic  Medicine  19  (1957):  182-190;  Harry  D.  Eastwell,  "Voodoo 
Death  and  the  Mechanism  for  Dispatch  of  the  Dying  in  East  Arnhem,  Australia," 
American  Anthropologist  84  (1982):  5-18;  Douglas  Colligan,  "Extreme  Psychic  Trauma 
is  the  Power  Behind  Voodoo  Death"  Science  Digest,  August  1976,  44-48;  Marvin  Harris, 
"Death  by  Voodoo,"  Psychology  Today,  August  1984,  16-17. 


28 


Bruce,  118. 


55 
Hartford,  Connecticut  hospital.  After  five  days  of  treatment  with  drugs,  he  had  not 
improved.  The  doctors  reluctantly  allowed  him  to  leave  the  hospital  in  search  of  a  root 
doctor  after  extracting  a  promise  that  he  would  return.  He  soon  found  a  conjure  woman, 
who  gave  him  "medicine"  to  drink,  prayed  for  him,  and  rubbed  more  medicine  on  his 
upper  body.  She  then  instructed  him  to  bath  his  head  in  the  medicine  once  a  day.  The 
treatment  cost  him  $150.00.  Several  days  later,  the  hospital  released  him,  free  of 
symptoms.  Moreover,  despite  its  magical  elements,  hoodoo  has  become  a  recognized 
medical  topic.  Health-related  journals  and  books  frequently  contain  material  on  conjure. 
Even  the  Textbook  of  Black-Related  Diseases  has  a  chapter  on  "Voodoo  Medicine."29 

Some  conjure  doctors  admitted  the  importance  of  faith  to  their  art.  William 
Adams,  an  ex-slave  and  conjurer  interviewed  by  the  Works  Progress  Administration 
during  the  Great  Depression,  answered  an  interviewer's  question  on  the  virtues  of  charms 
by  stating,  "Dat  am  a  question  of  faith.  If  deys  have  de  true  faith  in  sich,  it  wo'ks. 
Udderwise,  'twont."30 

The  medical  powers  of  the  hoodoo  doctor  extended  beyond  psychology,  however. 
Many  conjurers,  acting  as  root  doctors,  offered  herbal  and  other  natural  remedies  to  their 
clients.  In  Hoodoo  Medicine:  Gullah  Herbal  Remedies,  Faith  Mitchell  recorded  more 


29Loudell  F.  Snow,  "Sorcerers,  Saints,  and  Charlatans:  Black  Folk  Healers  in 
Urban  America,"  Culture,  Medicine  and  Psychiatry  2  (1978):  93;  Wilbert  C.  Jordan, 
"Voodoo  Medicine,"  chap,  in  Textbook  of  Black-Related  Diseases,  ed.  Richard  Allen 
Williams  (New  York:  McGraw-Hill  Book  Company,  1975),  716-738.  See  also,  Daniel  E. 
Moerman,  "Anthropology  of  Symbolic  Healing,"  Current  Anthropology  20  (1979):  59- 
80. 

30William  Adams,  interview  by  Sheldon  F.  Gauthier  (Tarrant  County,  AL),  The 
American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.  (Westport: 
Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1979),  supplement  1,  vol.  2,  20. 


56 
than  fifty  traditional  remedies  from  the  South  Carolina  Sea  Islands,  many  of  which  have 
now  been  recognized  by  the  scientific  community  for  their  medical  efficacy.  Moreover, 
many  of  these  and  similar  treatments  for  illnesses  were  in  use  well  before  the  Civil  War. 
For  instance,  Harriet  Barrett,  a  former  slave  and  "doctor  or  midwife"  stated  that  she  used 
a  combination  of  magical  and  herbal  remedies  in  treating  patients.  Among  them  was  a 
tea  of  red  oak  bark  for  fevers  and  a  rabbit's  foot  tied  around  the  neck  for  chills.  Albert  J. 
Robinson,  a  black  man  born  as  the  Civil  War  drew  to  a  close,  claimed  to  be  a  "divine 
healer,"  who  could  stop  the  flow  of  blood  with  the  touch  of  his  hand  and  cure  the  most 
dire  diseases  through  the  laying  on  of  hands,  water,  and  prayer.  He  also  admitted  using 
secret  herbs  to  treat  blood  disorders.  In  antebellum  days,  when  bleeding  was  an 
acceptable  treatment,  the  herbal  remedies  of  hoodoo,  though  originating  in  magical  ideas, 
were  at  least  as  healthy  as  whites'  medicine.  While  medicine  continued  to  improve 
throughout  the  century,  root  doctors'  methods  retained  their  psychological  and  sometimes 
medical  efficacy.31 

Conjurers  did  more  than  simply  treat  afflictions.  They  often  helped  prevent 
recurrences  of  magical  illnesses  by  identifying  those  who  caused  them.  In  the  case  of  the 
woman  who  was  conjured  by  having  her  silhouette  pierced  with  pins  and  needles,  the 


31Mitchell,  41-100.  See  also,  Todd  L.  Savitt,  Medicine  and  Slavery:  The  Diseases 
and  Health  Care  of  Blacks  in  Antebellum  Virginia,  Blacks  in  the  New  World  Series,  ed. 
August  Meier,  (Urbana,  Chicago,  and  London:  University  of  Illinois  Press,  1978),  149- 
184;  Harriet  Barrett,  interview  by  B.  E.  Davis  (Palestine  County,  Texas),  The  American 
Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.  (Westport:  Greenwood 
Publishing  Company,  1979),  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  201;  Albert  L.  Robinson  (Conecuh 
County,  AL,  June  1937),  The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P. 
Rawick,  ed.  (Westport:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1977),  supplement  1,  vol.  1, 
330-331.  Please  note  that  much  of  the  medicine  practiced  by  white  doctors  was  likewise 
based  on  the  use  of  herbs  and  other  naturally-occurring  substances. 


57 
hoodoo  doctor  traced  a  circle  in  the  dirt  around  the  house  where  she  was  staying  and 
ordered  the  woman's  father  to  sprinkle  an  unidentified  white  powder  around  the  ring, 
stating  that  the  family  would  then  discover  who  was  responsible  for  their  daughter's 
suffering.  Thirty  minutes  after  completing  these  tasks,  the  guilty  party  appeared  and  tried 
to  enter  the  house,  only  to  be  prevented  by  the  circle  and  powder.  More  commonly,  the 
hoodooists  simply  gave  vague  descriptions  of  the  supposed  culprits,  allowing  their  clients 
to  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to  the  guilty  party.32 

In  many  cases,  conjure  doctors  went  even  further,  turning  spells  back  upon  their 
originators.  This  practice  was  so  common  that  A.  M.  Bacon,  author  of  "Conjuring  and 
Conjure-Doctors,"  reported  that  such  reversals  of  magic  were  usually  part  of  conjurers' 
services.  Zippy  Tull  offered  her  customers  a  choice  on  whether  or  not  to  reverse 
conjures.  Thus,  they  gave  clients  revenge  along  with  recovery.33 

Hoodoo  was  not  simply  a  system  of  alternative  healthcare,  however.  It  also  gave 
blacks  hope  of  improved  lives  by  offering  a  means  of  protection  from  the  injustices 
inherent  to  slavery  and  then  to  the  racist  legal  and  social  system  of  the  late  nineteenth- 
century  South.  Under  slavery,  charms  to  prevent  whippings  and  similar  mistreatment 
were  widespread.  In  the  autobiography,  Narrative  of  the  Life  and  Adventures  of  Henry 
Bibb,  An  American  Slave,  the  author  recorded  some  of  his  personal  experiences  with 
conjure.  On  one  occasion,  Bibb  feared  a  whipping  as  a  result  of  fighting,  presumably 
with  a  fellow  slave.  In  order  to  avoid  punishment,  he  visited  a  local  conjurer,  who 


32Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  332;  Bacon,  210.  For 
European  parallels,  see  Keith  Thomas,  Religion  and  the  Decline  of  Magic  (New  York: 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1971),  216-222. 

33Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  4-6,  332;  Bacon,  210. 


58 
provided  him  with  a  powder  of  alum,  salt,  and  other  substances  and  a  bitter  root.  The 
conjurer  then  informed  Bibb  that  to  escape  flogging,  he  should  sprinkle  the  powder 
around  his  master.  If  this  failed,  he  was  to  chew  the  root  and  spit  its  juice  toward  his 
owner.  In  this  instance,  whether  through  the  workings  of  magic  or  otherwise,  Bibb 
emerged  unscathed.  Unfortunately,  he  became  such  a  fervent  believer  in  hoodoo's  power 
that  he  shortly  after  "commenced  talking  saucy"  to  his  master,  believing  that  he  was 
untouchable  as  long  as  he  had  the  powder  and  root.  The  result  was  a  severe  thrashing. 
Though  this  and  other  unpleasant  experiences  with  conjure  convinced  him  that  it  was 
useless,  he  nevertheless  admitted  that  "the  great  masses  of  southern  slaves"  continued  to 
believe  in  its  potency.34 

Frederick  Douglass,  most  famous  of  slave  authors,  had  his  own  experience  with 
conjure.  After  suffering  repeated  abuse  from  a  cruel  professional  "slave-breaker"  named 
Covey,  Douglass  went  to  his  friend,  Sandy  Jenkins,  for  help.  Jenkins'  solution  was  to 
present  him  with  a  root,  which  he  claimed  would  prevent  Covey  or  any  other  white  man 
from  flogging  him.  When  Covey  attempted  to  do  just  that,  Douglass  resisted  violently, 
fighting  Covey  to  a  draw.  Douglass  never  received  another  whipping.35 

When  charms  to  prevent  punishment  failed  or  were  simply  not  enough  to  satisfy 
bondspersons,  hoodoo  provided  other  alternatives.  The  most  well  known  of  these  were 
powders  designed  to  aid  runaways  by  throwing  tracking  dogs  off  their  scent.  John  Barker 
provided  one  of  the  more  detailed  accounts  of  this  form  of  hoodoo  when  interviewed  by 


34Henry  Bibb,  Narrative  of  the  Life  and  Adventures  of  Henry  Bibb,  An  American 
Slave,  3rd  ed.,  with  an  Introduction  by  Lucius  C.  Matlack  (New  York:  Published  by 
Author,  1850),  26-27,  quoted  26. 


35 


Douglass,  41-42. 


59 
the  WPA  in  1937.  Barker  remembered  that  his  grandfather  would  collect  horned  toads, 
dry  them  by  the  family  fire,  and  grind  them  into  powder.  This  powder  was  to  be  applied 
to  the  bottoms  of  shoes  in  order  to  throw  dogs  off  the  trail  of  escaped  slaves.  Barker 
recalled  that  it  invariably  worked  on  normal  dogs,  though  "hell  noun's"  could  overcome 
its  influence.36  If  resistance  failed,  slaves  could  turn  to  magic  to  help  them  cope.  For 
example,  the  same  hush  water  slave  men  gave  to  overly-talkative  wives  was  taken  by 
bondspersons  of  both  sexes  to  help  them  maintain  enough  patience  and  calm  to  stand  up 
under  the  rigors  of  life  as  a  chattel.37 

After  the  Civil  War,  spells  to  better  life  as  slaves  were  no  longer  useful. 
Nevertheless,  hoodoo  held  on  to  its  role  as  a  protection  from  injustice.  Often,  this 
inequity  appeared  in  the  southern  legal  system,  which  was  notoriously  discriminatory 
toward  blacks.  As  they  had  in  the  past,  conjurers  claimed  to  be  able  to  thwart  the  law.38 
Some  root  workers  reputedly  prevented  their  clients  from  going  to  prison  by  breaking  up 
trials  with  thunder  and  lightening.  A  more  common  means  of  affecting  cases  was  by 
"fixing"  the  courtroom.  One  of  the  more  colorful  figures  to  work  on  court  cases  was 


36Barker  failed  to  describe  these  apparently  supernatural  beasts. 

37John  Barker,  interview  by  Florence  Angermiller  (Kinney  County,  TX,  12 
September  1937),  The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick, 
ed.  (Westport:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1979),  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  166;  Poole, 
Rawick,  ed.,  vol.  6,  320-322. 

38Like  a  lawyer,  a  hoodoo  doctor's  efforts  did  not  depend  upon  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  the  accused.  His  or  her  spells  were  reputably  able  to  free  guilty  and 
innocent  alike. 


60 
Stephaney  Robinson,  known  as  Dr.  Buzzard.39  According  to  legend,  Robinson  could 
dissolve  trials  by  sending  groups  of  magical  buzzards  to  the  courthouse.  Whether  used  by 
bondspersons  to  subvert  slavery  or  freed  blacks  to  fight  racial  inequality,  conjure 
functioned  as  a  means  by  which  African- Americans  survived  hardships  and  held  on  to  the 
hope  that  they  could  better  their  condition.40 

Finally,  hoodoo  could  ostensibly  achieve  a  variety  of  personal  aims.  Some 
claimed  to  be  able  to  locate  treasure  through  the  use  of  divining  rods.  All  conjurers  could 
provide  charms  with  a  variety  of  uses.  They  might  perform  such  simple  acts  as  bringing 
luck.  Some  of  the  most  popular  of  these  charms  were  rabbits'  feet.  Though  these  were 
lucky  with  or  without  the  aid  of  a  conjurer,  a  skilled  practitioner  greatly  increased  their 
efficacy.  In  some  areas,  African- Americans  believed  that  the  tip  of  a  black  cat's  tail  was 
even  more  powerful.  Many  lucky  charms  fulfilled  specific  functions.  The  most  popular 
of  these  promised  success  in  gambling  or  financial  matters.  In  addition  to  changing 
fortune,  hoodoo  doctors  could  also  predict  it.  William  Wells  Brown  reported  that  while  a 
slave,  he  once  visited  a  fortune-teller  who  saw  his  future  by  gazing  into  a  water-filled 
gourd,  revealing  that  he  would  one  day  be  a  free  man.  Moreover,  Brown  stated  that  such 
experiences  were  far  from  unusual,  since  almost  "every  large  plantation,  with  any 


39Robinson  was  not  the  original  Dr.  Buzzard,  who  died  in  the  late  nineteenth 
century.  Robinson,  a  black  man,  lived  well  into  the  twentieth  century,  though  he 
apparently  began  his  practice  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Legend  says  that  he  learned  his 
powers  from  an  African  father  or  grandfather.  See  Pinckney,  101-120. 

40Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1423-1449,  3633-3634; 
Pinckney,  101-120.  For  a  historian  who  recognized  the  power  of  conjure  in  black  lives, 
see  Robin  D.  G.  Kelley,  '"We  Are  Not  What  We  Seem':  Rethinking  Black  Working- 
Class  Opposition  in  the  Jim  Crow  South,"  The  Journal  of  American  History  80  (1993): 
88-89. 


61 
considerable  number  of  negroes,  had  at  least  one,  who  laid  claim  to  be  a  fortune-teller."41 
One  of  the  conjurers'  most  desired  services  was  the  production  of  love  charms.  For 
instance,  reporting  on  a  time  about  five  years  after  the  Civil  War,  Henry  F.  Pyles,  a 
freedman,  stated  he  had  bought  a  charm  composed  of  a  combination  of  pepper,  wool, 
"Pammy  Christy  beans,"  and  rusty  iron  in  a  bag  tied  with  horsehair  and  wet  with  whisky. 
This  bizarre  concoction  was  designed  to  win  the  love  of  a  woman  with  whom  Pyles  had 
become  infatuated.  Providing  luck,  messages  about  the  future,  and  love  were  but  a  few  of 
the  conjurers'  services.  Any  personal  hope  or  problem  was  a  possible  job  for  a  hoodoo 
doctor.42 

So  how  did  the  supernatural  aptitude  of  the  hoodooist  translate  into  temporal 
power?  On  a  basic  level,  fear  of  conjure  had  a  profound  effect  on  individual  blacks.  For 
instance,  the  suggestion  that  a  person  was  the  victim  of  hoodoo  was  enough  to  create 
panic  for  many  blacks.  If  contemporary  observers  are  to  be  believed,  such  fear  could 
cause  physical  decline  and  death.     Likewise,  belief  in  the  positive  effects  of  conjure 
could  lead  to  equally  extraordinary  events.  As  Philip  Bruce  maintained,  root  workers' 
magic  could  restore  the  health  of  the  ill.  More  spectacularly,  however,  were  those  cases 
when  conjurers  inspired  individual  antebellum  blacks  to  resist  the  will  of  their  masters. 
Hoodoo  motivated  both  Frederick  Douglass  and  Henry  Bibb  to  oppose  whites'  control 


41 


Brown,  My  Southern  Home,  70. 

42Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  207;  Sara  M.  Handy,  "Negro  Superstitions,"  737-738; 
William  Wells  Brown,  Narrative  of  the  Life  of  William  Wells  Brown,  An  American  Slave 
(London:  Charles  Gilpin,  1850),  91-92;  Brown,  My  Southern  Home,  68-82;  Henry  F. 
Pyles,  interview  by  Robert  Vinson  Lackey  (Tulsa,  OK,  spring  1937),  The  WPA  Oklahoma 
Slave  Narratives,  T.  Lindsay  Baker  and  Julie  P.  Baker,  eds.  (Norman  and  London: 
University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1996),  328-329;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft- 
Rootwork,  667;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  282-287. 


62 
over  their  lives.  Moreover,  Douglass'  experience  helped  him  to  become  the  influential 
black  abolitionist.  His  battle  with  Covey,  which  marked  the  end  of  his  whippings,  was  a 
direct  result  of  his  confidence  in  a  magic  root.  As  he  later  wrote,  "It  rekindled  the  few 
expiring  embers  of  freedom,  and  revived  within  me  a  sense  of  my  own  manhood.  It 
recalled  the  departed  self-confidence,  and  inspired  me  again  with  a  determination  to  be 
free."43  Likewise,  William  Wells  Brown's  visit  to  the  fortune-teller  notably  influenced 
his  course  in  life.  For  some  time  before  his  visit  with  Uncle  Frank,  Brown  had  been 
planning  to  escape  slavery.  As  the  time  to  carry  out  his  plans  approached,  he  went  to  the 
fortune-teller  to  find  out  if  he  would  succeed.  Uncle  Frank's  assurance  gave  him  the 
courage  to  go  ahead  with  his  plan.  Within  a  matter  of  months,  Brown  had  escaped,  going 
on  to  become  a  medical  doctor  and  noted  author.  Simple  faith  in  the  power  of  conjure 
ensured  that  hoodoo  doctors  had  the  psychological  power  to  bring  illness  or  health,  love 
or  rejection,  and  freedom  or  slavery  to  nineteenth-century  blacks.44 

For  successful  conjurers,  economic  prosperity  inevitably  followed  such  influence. 
Even  under  slavery,  hoodoo  doctors  usually  demanded  payment  for  their  work.  Uncle 
Frank,  for  example,  charged  twenty-five  cents  per  visit.  Such  an  amount  might  seem 
small,  but  in  a  time  when  the  vast  majority  of  blacks  were  bondservants,  it  was  a 
handsome  sum.  Following  emancipation,  the  price  of  hoodoo  skyrocketed.  Writing  in 
the  1880s,  Eugene  V.  Smalley,  recorded  that  one  conjurer  undertook  to  rid  a  Louisiana 
plantation  of  an  unpopular  overseer  for  $2.50.  The  magician  had  originally  asked  for 


43Douglass,  43. 

"Bruce,  1 1 1-125;  Douglass,  41-47;  Bibb,  25-32;  Brown,  Narrative,  90-92; 
Brown,  My  Southern  Home. 


63 

$30.00,  but  he  was  willing  to  negotiate.  Other  conjurers  refused  to  budge  on  high-priced 
spells.  For  instance,  two  letters  to  the  editor  of  Southern  Workman  in  1878  recorded 
prices  of  $25.00  for  individual  spells,  one  intended  to  cure  lizards  in  the  body  and  the 
other  to  win  the  love  of  a  woman.  New  Orleans  hoodooist,  "Jean  Bayou,"  also  known  as 
"Dr.  John"  and  "John  Montanet,"  sometimes  charged  $50.00  for  mixtures  of  water  and 
commonly-available  herbs.  These  high  prices  made  successful  hoodoo  doctors  wealthy. 
In  contrast,  following  the  Civil  War,  the  average  southern  black  lived  as  a  tenant  farmer, 
the  harshest  form  of  which  was  sharecropping.  Sharecroppers,  like  slaves,  made  no 
money  directly.  Their  only  cash  income  came  through  the  sale  of  their  share  of  the  crops 
they  produced  on  the  property  of  their  landlords.  Many  black  tenant  farmers  made  less 
than  $100  annually.  A  conjurer,  however,  could  gain  several  months'  worth  of  wages  in  a 
single  day.  For  instance,  at  the  time  of  Jean  Bayou's  death,  he  was  supposedly  worth 
around  $50,000.00.  Even  if  a  tenant  farmer  were  able  to  save  all  of  his  or  her  hard-earned 
income,  it  would  take  five  hundred  years  to  raise  such  wealth.45 

In  some  cases,  hoodooists  could  move  into  realms  of  political  leadership.  Such 
was  the  case  with  the  hoodoo  doctor  encountered  by  Samuel  Taylor.46  He  was  far  from 
unique,  though.  Even  before  the  abolition  of  slavery,  some  conjurers  rose  to  positions  of 
community  leadership.  The  most  famous  of  these  was  Gullah  Jack,  Denmark  Vesey's 


45Brown,  Narrative,  91;  Eugene  V.  Smalley,  "Sugar-Making  in  Louisiana,"  The 
Century  35  (1887):  1 12;  R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A,  30;  W.  and  C,  38;  Roller,  David  C.  and  Robert 
W.  Twyman,  eds.,  The  Encyclopedia  of  Southern  History  (Baton  Rouge  and  London: 
Louisiana  State  University  Press,  1979),  s.v.  "Tenant  Farming,"  by  James  S.  Fisher; 
Hearn,  "The  Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  726-727. 

46Unfortunately  for  historians,  Taylor  did  not  mention  whether  the  hoodooist  held 
an  elected  office  or  an  informal  position  of  political  leadership,  analogous  to  that  of  a 
party  boss. 


64 
second-in-command  in  an  1822  conspiracy  to  overthrow  slavery.  Hoodooists  likewise 
fomented  rebellion  in  smaller  revolts  in  North  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana. 
Even  Nat  Turner's  famed  rebellion  of  1831  was  girded  with  elements  of  magic.  Though 
Turner  believed  he  had  received  a  divine  mandate  from  the  Christian  Holy  Spirit  to 
overthrow  slavery  and  kill  all  whites,  his  followers  could  not  help  but  understand  his 
supposedly  prophetic  visions  of  black  triumph  over  whites  in  light  of  their  deep-seated 
understanding  of  magic.  Even  to  whites,  Turner  felt  it  necessary  to  state  that  he  had  not 
used  conjure  to  build  his  following.47 

The  most  unusual  case  of  the  power  within  the  grasp  of  hoodoo  practitioners, 
however,  was  the  experience  of  Marie  Laveau,  the  Voodoo  Queen  of  New  Orleans. 
During  her  life,  stretching  from  the  1790s  or  early  1800s  to  1881,  members  of  both  races 
throughout  Louisiana  recognized  her  as  a  Voodoo  priestess  and  powerful  conjure  woman. 
Her  birth  as  a  free  woman  of  mixed  race  did  little  to  hint  at  the  influence  she  would  later 
wield.  Neither  did  her  early  employment  as  a  hairdresser.  Nevertheless,  by  the  mid- 
nineteenth  century,  she  was  famed  as  a  purveyor  of  magical  charms  and  presiding  over 
New  Orleans'  most  important  Voodoo  ritual,  an  annual  dance  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Pontchartrain.  According  to  legend,  she  could  raise  storms  at  will  and  kept  a  pet  snake 
which  she  treated  like  a  baby.  Darker  stories  claimed  she  spoke  with  the  devil  and 
sacrificed  human  victims.  Following  her  death  on  June  15,  1881,  the  city's  newspapers 
carried  obituaries  lauding  her  for  her  beauty,  wisdom,  charity,  skill  at  healing,  and 


47Taylor,  77-80;  William  C.  Suttles,  Jr.,  "African  Religious  Survivals  as  Factors  in 
American  Slave  Revolts,"  Journal  of Negro  History  56  (1971):  97-104;  Nat  Turner,  The 
Confessions  of  Nat  Turner,  the  Leader  of  the  Late  Insurrections  in  Southampton,  Va.,  in 
Slave  Narratives,  ed.  William  L.  Andrews  and  Henry  Louis  Gates,  Jr.,  Library  of  America 
Series,  no.l  14  (New  York:  Literary  Classics  of  the  United  States,  Inc.,  2000),  251. 


65 
ministry  to  condemned  prisoners.  One  such  obituary  described  her  as  "a  most  wonderful 
woman.  Doing  good  for  the  sake  of  doing  good  alone,  she  obtained  no  reward,  oft  times 
meeting  with  prejudice  and  loathing,  she  was  nevertheless  contented  and  did  not  flag  in 
her  work."48  Considering  the  rumors  that  circulated  around  her,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
one  irate  reader  angrily  responded  with  a  letter  to  the  editor  surmising  that  the  authors  of 
Laveau's  obituaries  were  doubtless  the  victims  of  a  practical  joker,  who  had  fooled  them 
into  believing  that  Marie  Laveau  was  a  saint.  Whatever  contemporaries'  opinions  were, 
virtually  everyone  in  New  Orleans  had  one.  Rare  indeed  was  it  for  the  death  of  a  free 
black  female  to  receive  such  attention.  Moreover,  Laveau's  deeds  did  not  end  with  her 
death.  Most  authors  agree  that  her  daughter,  and  perhaps  granddaughter,  took  over  her 
conjuring  practice,  and  most  of  those  who  knew  these  later  Marie  Laveaus  believed  that 
they  knew  the  original.  Meanwhile,  the  grave  of  the  first  Marie  Laveau  became  an  object 
of  pilgrimage  for  black  and  white  believers,  who  made  offerings  to  her  spirit  in  return  for 
favors.  Some  modern  New  Orleans  Voodoo  practitioners  consider  her  a  goddess,  calling 
on  her  for  healing,  legal  problems,  protection,  and  matters  of  sex  and  love.  For  a  member 
of  a  profoundly  oppressed  race  during  a  time  when  slavery  and  lynchings  were 
commonplace,  Laveau  rose  from  being  a  hairdresser  to  a  goddess,  who  continues  to  help 
those  who  believe  in  Voodoo  and  the  magic  associated  with  it.  Without  doubt,  she  was 
one  of  the  most  well-known  black  women  of  the  nineteenth  century.49 


48"Death  of  Marie  Laveau,"  The  Daily  Picayune,  17  May  1881,  8. 

49Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  45-52;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  51-151; 
Lyle  Saxon,  Fabulous  New  Orleans  (New  York  and  London:  Century  Company,  1928), 
237-246;  Charles  M.  Gandolfo,  Marie  Laveau  of  New  Orleans,  the  Great  Voodoo  Queen 
(New  Orleans:  New  Orleans  Historical  Voodoo  Museum,  1992),  16.;  Charles  M. 
Gandolfo,  Voodoo  Ve-Ve's  &  Talismans  and  How  to  Use  Them  (New  Orleans:  New 


66 
The  influence  of  nineteenth-century  hoodoo  was  so  great  that  many  African- 
American  folk  heroes  were  themselves  conjurers.  "Railroad  Bill,"  a  legendary  outlaw, 
famed  for  evading  capture  by  white  sheriffs  for  years,  supposedly  did  so  by  changing 
himself  into  animals  in  order  to  hide  his  identity.  While  Railroad  Bill  was  an  outsider,  a 
killer,  most  folkloric  conjurers  were  not  so  alien  from  the  average  black  American. 
Stories  of  the  slave,  "Old  John,"  sometimes  depict  him  as  practicing  conjure.  For 
instance,  Richard  M.  Dorson's  American  Negro  Folktales  includes  a  story  of  John's 
transformation  contest  with  his  master.  Having  gone  through  a  period  where  his  master 
whipped  him  frequently,  John  visited  the  local  "mojo-man,"  obtaining  a  charm  that 
enabled  him  to  change  shape.  Unfortunately  for  John,  he  refused  to  pay  top  dollar, 
getting  inferior  magic.  His  attempt  to  avoid  a  beating  failed.  Without  doubt,  the  most 
famous  folkloric  conjurer  was  Rabbit,  who  frequently  appears  as  a  practitioner  of  magic. 
In  Gullah  Folktales  from  the  Georgia  Coast,  Charles  Colcock  Jones,  Jr.  told  the  story  of 
how  "Buh  Rabbit"  underwent  a  period  of  testing  at  the  instruction  of  a  conjurer  who 
promised  to  teach  him  hoodoo.  According  to  Missouri  blacks,  Rabbit  learned  conjure 
well.  In  addition  to  the  usual  overcoming  of  stronger  animals  through  trickery,  Rabbit 
also  battled  with  rival  hoodoo  workers,  most  notably  Woodpecker,  another  popular 
character  in  the  folklore  of  nineteenth-century  Missouri  blacks.  At  one  point, 
Woodpecker  stole  Rabbit's  powerful  conjure  bag,  which  contained  a  silver  "luck  ball," 
but  when  he  tried  to  take  it  away,  it  spoke  to  him,  frightening  him  into  returning  it  to  its 
proper  place.  Conjure,  already  a  powerful  reality  in  African- American  life,  grew  in 


Orleans  Historical  Voodoo  Museum),  16.  See  also  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  328- 
357. 


67 
influence  as  men  swapped  stories  of  their  favorite  outlaws  and  mothers  told  their  children 
animal  stories.50 

As  was  the  case  with  Samuel  Taylor's  hoodoo  doctor,  wealth  and  power  followed 
skilled  practitioners  of  hoodoo.  Even  their  names,  such  as  "Uncle"  Frank  and  "Aunt 
Zippy"  Tull,  testify  to  the  respect  they  received  in  black  society.  Doubtless,  their  deeds 
often  had  a  negative  effect  on  their  clients,  encouraging  them  to  oppose  masters  without 
hope  of  success,  to  expect  love  from  one  who  was  uninterested,  or  to  eschew  medical 
treatment  in  favor  of  magic.  Even  if  one  assumes  that  their  reputed  powers  were  wholly 
spurious,  however,  their  reputed  supernatural  aptitude  had  powerful  benefits  for  those 
who  believed.  They  gave  nineteenth-century  blacks  hope  in  lives  over  which  they  often 
had  little  control.  Slavery  and  Jim  Crow  took  away  African- Americans'  economic, 
political,  and  often  physical  freedom.  Hoodoo  offered  a  means  of  asserting  power  over 
oneself  and  others,  for  good  or  evil.  It  is  not  surprising  that  conjurers  rose  to  such 
prominence  in  their  communities.51 


50Carmer,  122-125;  Richard  M.  Dorson,  ed.,  American  Negro  Folklore 
(Greenwich:  Fawcett  publications,  Inc.,  1967),  141-142;  Jones,  111-113;  Mary  Owen, 
Voodoo  Tales,  102-119. 

51  According  to  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  923,  "Zippy" 
means  "lively"  and  "smart." 


CHAPTER  2 

THE  CONJURERS  THEMSELVES: 

PERFORMING  AND  MARKETING  HOODOO 

Hoodooists'  temporal  power  rested  upon  the  faith  of  the  masses,  who  viewed 
conjure  with  mixed  feelings  of  respect,  fear,  and  hope.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
conjurers  themselves,  however,  success  rested  upon  a  potent  blend  of  manipulation  of  the 
supernatural  world  and  effective  marketing.  Notable  regional  distinctions  defined 
conjurers'  practice  based  on  the  area  in  which  he  or  she  lived.  Still,  surprising 
similarities  continued  to  appear  in  conjure  throughout  the  South.  This  mix  of  difference 
and  similarity  which  went  to  shape  the  success  of  conjurers  was  most  evident  in  four 
aspects  of  hoodooists'  practice:  the  supernatural  foundations  of  hoodoo,  acquiring  the 
ability  to  conjure,  the  theory  and  production  of  spells  and  charms,  and  the  marketing  of 
conjure. 

Before  examining  conjurers  and  their  trade,  an  understanding  of  its  regional 
distinctions  is  useful.  Modern  American  conjure  is  a  mixture  of  magical  beliefs 
originating  in  two  zones  of  European  settlement,  which  remained  quite  distinct  during  the 
seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  The  first  to  be  settled  was  the  Atlantic 
coast,  encompassing  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 
These  colonies  received  shipments  of  slaves  beginning  in  1619.  The  trade  accelerated  in 
the  late  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  The  element  which  set  this  area  apart  from 
the  rest  of  the  South  was  the  strong  English  influence  which  shaped  it  from  the  early 


68 


69 
seventeenth  century  onward.  Within  this  region,  the  Sea  Islands  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  proved  the  most  important.  High  black-to-white  ratios  and  relative  isolation 
from  the  rest  of  the  South  set  these  locations  apart.  From  their  initial  settlements  along 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  Anglo-American  settlers  moved  west  to  occupy  the  lands  of  the 
central  South  and  Trans-Mississippi,  as  far  as  Texas.  In  contrast,  the  second  included 
French  and  Spanish  settlements,  chiefly  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  lower  Mississippi 
River.  The  Spanish  first  arrived  in  1565,  founding  St.  Augustine,  Florida.  Shortly  after, 
small  numbers  of  Spanish  settlers  moved  into  what  is  now  Texas.  The  French  did  not 
reach  the  American  South  in  significant  numbers  until  the  early  eighteenth  century.  Their 
largest  settlement  was  New  Orleans.  During  the  late  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries  the  Latin  cultural  area  grew  far  more  slowly  than  the  English  domain.  The  chief 
area  of  expansion  was  the  Mississippi  River.  Along  its  banks,  French  settlers  gradually 
advanced.  In  other  regions,  Latin  influence  declined  as  the  Protestant  English  moved 
westward.  Louisiana,  which  fell  under  American  control  in  1803,  retained  much  of  its 
Latin  culture  because  of  its  large  French  population.  South  Florida,  which  had  a  very 
small  colonial  population,  likewise  escaped  rapid  assimilation  to  the  American  culture, 
primarily  because  few  American  settlers  wanted  to  move  into  an  area  with  such  a  climate 
and  terrain. 

The  most  obvious  distinction  between  the  zones  was  the  difference  in  terms  used 
by  those  who  practiced  conjure.  In  New  Orleans,  where  French  influence  dominated, 
whites  knew  African-American  magic  as  "Voodoo."  Blacks  called  it  "hoodoo."1 


'The  term  "hoodoo"  spread  throughout  the  South  by  the  late  nineteenth  or  early 
twentieth  century.  For  this  reason,  it  is  employed  throughout  this  work  as  a  synonym  for 
conjure,  though  it  clearly  originated  in  Louisiana.  Some  later  authors  draw  a  sharp 


70 
Practitioners  were  typically  known  as  "wangateurs"  or  "wangateuses,"  for  men  and 
women,  respectively.  "Gris-gris"  denoted  charms  and  spells.  "Tobies"  and  "wangas" 
were  more  specific  words  for  good  and  evil  charms,  respectively.  In  Missouri,  "noodoo," 
a  variant  of  "Voodoo,"  was  the  favored  term  for  the  practice  of  African- American  magic. 
In  southern  Florida,  an  area  long  ruled  by  Spain,  conjure  was  known  as  "Nanigo,"  and 
practitioners  were  termed  "brujas."  Along  the  English-settled  Atlantic  seaboard,  black 
sorcerers  called  themselves  "conjurers,"  "root  workers,"  or  "double-heads."  The 
performance  of  their  art  was  known  by  such  words  as  "conjure,"  "rooting,"  "tricking," 
"fixing,"  and  "goophering."  In  some  cases,  terms  were  localized.  For  instance,  Maryland 
blacks  knew  conjurers  as  "high"  men  or  women.  Likewise,  "root  workers"  was  a 
designation  particularly  popular  along  the  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  coasts,  as  was 
"goopher"  a  term  almost  unknown  outside  of  the  English  cultural  area.  In  Mississippi, 
African- Americans  used  "mojo"  when  referring  to  benevolent  magic.  Virginian  blacks 
sometimes  called  conjuring  "Gombre-work."2 


distinction  between  the  religion  of  Voodoo  and  magic  of  hoodoo.  Today,  this  distinction 
does  exist,  but  during  the  nineteenth  century  and  earlier,  neither  African- Americans  nor 
whites  attempted  to  separate  them.  For  an  example  of  this  error,  see  Shannon  R. 
Turlington,  The  Complete  Idiot's  Guide  to  Voodoo  (Indianapolis:  Alpha,  2002),  283. 

2Pitkin,  167;  Laura  L.  Porteous,  "The  Gri-gri  Case,"  Louisiana  Historical 
Quarterly  17  (1934):  48-63;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  19;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the 
Voodoos,"  241;  Marie  Cappick,  The  Key  West  Story,  1818-1950,  serialized  in  The  Coral 
Tribune,  Serialized  in  The  Coral  Tribune,  2,  9,  16,  23  May,  7;  6  June  1958,  7;  A.  L. 
Lopez,  Florida  Writers  Project,  "Nanigo  Dance:  Superstitions  and  Customs  of  Cuban 
Negroes  in  Tampa,"  P.  K.  Yonge  Library  of  Florida  History,  University  of  Florida, 
Gainesville;  Felix  Cannella,  Florida  Writers  Project,  "Nafiigo,"  26  May  1936,  P.  K. 
Yonge  Library  of  Florida  History,  University  of  Florida,  Gainesville;  Pinckney,  1-18; 
Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  11,17,  275,  278,  280-281,  284,  308, 
310,314,336,337. 


71 
A  more  important  regional  difference  was  the  persistence  of  pre-Christian 
religious  beliefs  in  the  Latin  cultural  zone,  which  played  an  important  part  in  African- 
American  conjure.3  This  role  is  best  seen  in  Voodoo,  practiced  in  the  former  French 
territory  of  Louisiana,  with  its  center  in  New  Orleans.  "Voodoo,"  though  often  used  as  a 
synonym  for  "hoodoo"or  "conjure,"  was  more  than  simply  magic.  Drawing  heavily  from 
Haitian  Vodou,  it  retained  a  pantheon  of  gods,  who  were  honored  by  the  worship  of  their 
devotees.  The  most  visible  rituals  of  the  religion  were  dances,  the  chief  one  of  which 
took  place  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Pontchartrain  each  St.  John's  Eve  (June  23),  in  honor 
of  Voodoo  gods,  including  St.  John,  who  was  a  powerful  spirit  in  the  religion.  During  the 
ceremony,  a  Voodoo  queen,  the  most  famous  of  which  was  Marie  Laveau,  presided.  In 
the  early  nineteenth  century,  kings  also  played  major  roles  in  the  rituals,  but  by  the  second 
half  of  the  century,  they  appear  to  have  declined  in  importance  or  disappeared  altogether.4 

Unfortunately  for  our  knowledge  of  Louisiana  Voodoo,  most  writers  on  the 
subject  rewrote  a  sensationalized  description  of  Haitian  Vodou  given  by  Louis-Elise 
Moreau  de  Saint-Mery,  a  historian  of  colonial  Haiti.5  According  to  these  accounts,  the 
dances  usually  featured  women  and  men  dressed  in  an  assembly  of  red  handkerchiefs, 
with  those  presiding  girded  with  a  blue  cord.  Women  also  wore  head  cloths,  called 


3For  purposes  of  analysis,  "religion"  refers  to  an  aspect  of  spirituality  which 
includes  worship  of  divine  beings.  Thus,  religion  is  god  focused.  In  contrast,  "magic," 
"conjure,"  and  related  terms  are  human  focused,  designating  those  elements  of  spirituality 
aimed  at  changing  human  circumstances  by  influencing  divine  or  supernatural  forces. 

"Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  40-51;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  3-51. 

'See  Louis-Elise  Moreau  de  Saint-Mery,  Description  topographique,  physique, 
civile,  politique  et  historique  de  la  partie  francaise  de  I  'Ue  de  Saint-Domingue,  2  vols. 
(Philadelphia,  1797). 


72 
"tignons,"  which  they  tied  in  seven  knots  sticking  out  above  their  heads.  During  the 
ceremonies,  participants  worshiped  Voodoo  Magnian  or  the  Grand  Zombie,  the  chief 
Voodoo  god,  in  the  form  of  a  snake,  held  aloft  and  consulted  by  the  queens.  Various 
lesser  gods  would  possess  the  queens.  While  in  a  trance,  they  issued  instructions  from 
the  gods  who  controlled  them.  Following  these  pronouncements,  individual  worshipers 
would  pray  to  the  gods,  petitioning  them  for  help  or  guidance.  Animal  sacrifices,  which 
pleased  the  Voodoo  deities,  were  a  necessary  part  of  the  ceremony.  According  to  some 
writers,  the  dances  frequently  evolved  into  sexual  orgies.6  Though  such  descriptions  are 
questionable  when  applied  to  Louisiana  Voodoo,  they  do  contain  elements  of  truth.  For 
instance,  one  eyewitness  of  an  early  nineteenth-century  St.  John's  Eve  ceremony,  whose 
account  was  preserved  in  J.  W.  Buel's  late  nineteenth-century  Sunlight  and  Shadow  of 
America 's  Great  Cities,  confirmed  the  presence  of  a  female  queen  or  high  priestess,  a 
prominent  male  who  assisted  the  queen,  nude  dancing,  the  use  of  a  snake  in  the  worship 
of  Voodoo  Magnian,  and  apparent  spirit  possession  in  the  form  of  dances  designed  to 
resemble  the  writhing  of  snakes.  In  addition,  before  the  dance  began,  the  participants 
shared  in  a  grand  feast.  Voodoo  ceremonies  included  more  than  just  the  St.  John's  Eve 
dance,  however.  Buel,  for  instance,  reported  that  July  19  was  the  beginning  of  a  major 
four-day  festival  for  believers.  Other  large  dances  took  place  at  midnight  in  Congo 
Square,  inside  New  Orleans.7 


6Later  scholars  have  questioned  the  sexual  focus  of  the  St.  John's  Eve  dances. 

7Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  40-51;  Cable,  "Creole  Slave  Songs,"  815-821;  James 
William  Buel,  Sunlight  and  Shadow  of  America 's  Great  Cities  (Philadelphia:  West 
Philadelphia  Publishing  Company,  1889),  516-542;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  3- 
51.  See  also  Blake  Touchstone,  "Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,"  Louisiana  History  13  (1972): 
371-386,  who  argued  that  the  dances  had  become  a  form  of  pseudo- Voodoo  aimed  at 


73 

Smaller  ceremonies  designed  to  honor  the  deities  were  also  common  in  Voodoo. 

Charles  D.  Warner  witnessed  one  of  these.  One  Voodooist  held  weekly  gatherings  on 

Wednesday  at  noon,  Warner  observed.  At  the  assembly  he  attended,  a  mixed  group  of 

whites  and  blacks,  with  women  predominating,  sat  in  a  circle  around  an  altar.  A  statue  of 

the  Virgin  Mary  with  candles  placed  around  it  rested  upon  the  altar.  In  front  of  it  were 

dishes  of  fruit,  candy,  and  other  offerings  brought  by  the  participants.  To  open  the 

ceremony,  the  presiding  male  Voodooist  rapped  on  the  floor  three  times.  After  doing  so, 

the  group  began  to  chant: 

Danse  Calinda,  boudoum,  boudoum! 
Danse  Calinda,  boudoum,  boudoum!8 

Chants  of  various  sorts  continued  throughout  most  of  the  ritual.  While  engaged  in 

singing,  the  leader  of  the  assembly  poured  libations  of  brandy  on  the  floor,  then  filled  a 

bowl  with  the  alcoholic  beverage,  which  he  thereupon  set  alight.  Afterwards,  he  dipped 

the  offerings  from  the  altar  in  the  flaming  liquid.  With  his  hands  aflame,  he  tossed  them 

into  the  circle  of  observers,  who  were  pleased  if  they  were  able  to  catch  some.  Next,  the 

leader  brought  up  individual  participants  and  covered  their  heads  and  faces  with  the 

burning  liquid.  All  told,  the  ceremony  lasted  for  about  an  hour  and  a  half.9 

Voodoo-like  religions  survived  in  other  places,  as  well,  the  most  important  of 

these  being  part  of  northern  Missouri  along  the  Mississippi  River.  Among  the  religious 


making  money  of  whites  by  the  late  1800s.  If  Touchstone  is  correct,  this  development 
was  the  first  example  of  tourist  Voodoo. 

8Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Studies  in  the  South  and  West,  with  Comments  on 
Canada  (New  York:  Harper  &  Brothers,  1889),  69. 

9Warner,  64-74. 


74 
rituals  that  survived  were  dances  in  honor  of  Grandfather  Rattlesnake,  doubtless  linked  to 
the  Voodoo  Magnian  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo.  Mary  Owen,  who  studied  Voodoo  in 
North  Missouri  during  the  late  1800s,  described  this  dance  as  being  done  in  the  nude  and 
incorporating  fasting  beforehand,  chanting,  animal  sacrifice,  and  communal  feasting. 
Owen  likewise  recorded  fire  and  moon  dances.  They  performed  the  latter  in  a  circle, 
revolving,  at  greater  or  lesser  speeds,  throughout  the  ritual.  Unlike  in  New  Orleans,  self- 
styled  "kings"  presided  over  these  dances.10 

While  Louisiana  and  nearby  areas  have  long  been  recognized  as  the  seat  of 
Voodoo,  pre-Christian  beliefs  survived  in  other  places  as  well.  A  heavily  religious  link  to 
conjure  survived  in  Florida,  where  the  syncretic  religion  known  as  Nafiigo  was  practiced. 
Nanigo  evolved  primarily  from  Santeria,  a  Cuban  folk  religion."  Florida,  only  ninety 
miles  from  the  island,  received  Cuban  immigrants  throughout  its  history.  They  arrived  in 
particularly  large  numbers  during  the  late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries.  The 
new  arrivals  blended  their  religious  rituals  with  those  of  blacks  already  in  the  area  and 
others  who  arrived  from  other  parts  of  the  Caribbean  or  United  States,  including  the 
Bahamas  and  Haiti.  The  result  was  a  Voodoo-like  faith.  As  in  the  Voodoo  of  the  French- 
settled  areas,  Nanigo  had  its  own  pantheon  of  gods.  We  know  even  less  of  them, 


10Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  236-241. 

"In  Cuba,  "nanigo,"  was  a  term  for  a  Santerian  secret  society.  In  the  popular 
mind,  and  sometimes  in  reality,  these  societies  were  deeply  involved  in  the  Cuban 
underworld,  making  them  widely  feared  as  a  criminal  force.  In  Palmetto  Country, 
Stetson  Kennedy  defined  Nanigo  as  only  the  most  elite  cult  of  the  broader  "brujeria" 
faith.  Kennedy's  formulation  more  closely  replicated  the  Cuban  relationship  of  nanigo  to 
Santeria.  Nevertheless,  I  have  followed  the  practice  of  most  early  twentieth-century 
authors  (including  Kennedy  in  another  work)  by  using  "Nanigo"  to  represent  the  entire 
faith.  See  Kennedy,  Palmetto  Country,  175-179,  and  Joseph  M.  Murphy,  Santeria: 
African  Spirits  in  America,  with  new  Preface  (Boston:  Beacon  Press,  1993),  32-34. 


75 
however,  than  we  do  of  those  worshiped  in  New  Orleans  or  along  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  Most  of  the  sources  addressing  the  religion  come  from  the  early 
twentieth  century,  though  they  can  be  applied  to  earlier  times.  According  to  a  report  from 
the  1930s,  African- Americans  in  West  Tampa  performed  ceremonies  with  drums.  A 
"devil,"  armed  with  a  knife  and  carrying  a  chicken,  would  then  appear  and  dance  before 
the  participants.  As  with  most  accounts  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo,  this  description  of 
Nanigo  was  almost  certainly  sensationalized  and  misinterpreted  by  an  unfamiliar 
investigator.  Rather  than  a  devil,  the  dancer  more  likely  represented  Shango,  an 
aggressive  deity,  popular  in  Santeria  and  other  Caribbean  religions.  During  the  same 
period,  Felix  Cannella  collected  a  more  credible  account  of  Nanigo  in  Tampa  while 
working  for  the  Florida  Writers  Project.  According  to  Cannella,  a  usual  Nanigo  rite 
began  with  chanting  with  participants  seated  in  a  circle  surrounding  a  priestess  known  as 
a  "mama-loi."  Those  present  then  sacrificed  a  goat,  into  which  a  human  spirit  had  been 
magically  transferred,  followed  by  a  feast  on  its  raw  flesh.  During  the  rituals,  the  cry  of 
"Zombie"  was  frequent.  Next,  a  priest,  known  as  a  "papa-loi,"  would  dance  with  two 
chickens,  which  he  would  then  sacrifice,  sprinkling  their  blood  on  the  participants.  Other 
investigators  of  Tampa's  Nanigo  documented  the  existence  of  several  non-Christian  gods, 
such  as  Yemaya,  a  spirit  of  the  air,  and  Elegba,  an  evil  god.  Marie  Cappick,  writing  in 
1958,  stated  that  what  she  variously  called  "Voodoo,"  "Nanigro,"  or  "Obeah"12  survived 
in  the  Florida  Keys  until  the  early  1930s.  Among  their  activities  were  midnight 
processions.  Participants  carried  torches  and  wore  burlap  bags  and  animal  masks.  Other 
practices  of  Key  West's  African-Americans  strongly  resembled  those  of  New  Orleans 


12Obeah  is  a  Bahamian  syncretic  religion,  similar  to  Vodou  and  Santeria. 


76 
Voodoo.  According  to  Cappick,  the  "Voodooists"  had  a  place  of  worship  near  South 
Beach,  called  the  Congo  hall,  where  they  gathered  each  St.  John's  Day.  A  queen  presided 
over  these  and  lesser  ceremonies.  Julia,  who  came  to  Key  West  from  Africa  by  way  of 
the  Bahamas,  was  the  best  known  of  these  queens.  In  a  St.  John's  Day  ceremony 
witnessed  by  the  author,  elements  typical  of  Louisiana  Voodoo  appeared,  including 
dancing,  drumming,  and  animal  sacrifice.  In  this  case,  a  goat  was  the  unfortunate  victim. 
Participants  drank  its  blood.  Without  doubt,  these  descriptions  of  Nanigo  were 
embellished  for  the  benefit  of  white  readers,  but  they  attest  to  the  existence  of  a  non- 
Christian  faith  among  black  Floridians.13 

Unlike  the  Latin-settled  regions,  the  Anglo  zone  had  comparatively  few  pre- 
Christian  beliefs  which  supported  conjure.  Of  course,  scattered  elements  of  the  old 
religions  persisted.  For  example,  until  the  early  twentieth  century,  African- Americans 
along  the  Georgia  coast  prayed  to  rivers  when  undergoing  baptism,  asking  the  waters  to 
wash  away  their  sins.  Although  some  elements  of  pre-Christian  belief  persisted, 
conjurers  did  not  typically  serve  as  religious  leaders.  Preachers  who  doubled  as  root 
doctors  were,  however,  far  from  unknown.  In  fact,  some  Atlantic  coast  blacks  believed 
that  conjure  was  inimical  to  Christianity  and  attributed  the  root  workers'  power  to  evil 
forces,  including  the  devil.  Such  was  the  case  with  former  slave  Ank  Bishop  of 


13Lopez,  Florida  Writers  Project,  2-3;  Canella,  Florida  Writers  Project,  1-3; 
Cappick,  9  May  1958,  7;  16  May  1958,  7;  Ralph  Steele  Boggs,  "Spanish  Folklore  from 
Tampa  Florida,"  Southern  Folklore  Quarterly  1  (1937):  1-12;  Stetson  Kennedy,  "Nanigo 
in  Florida,"  Southern  Folklore  Quarterly  4  (1940):  153-156;  O.  H.  Hauptmann,  "Spanish 
Folklore  from  Tampa  Florida:  (No.  VII)  Witchcraft,"  Southern  Folklore  Quarterly  3 
(1939):  197-200. 


77 
Livingston,  Alabama.  He  announced,  "But  I'm  a  believer,  and  this  here  voodoo  and 
hoodoo  and  spirits  ain't  nothing  but  a  lot  of  folks  outen  Christ."14 

What  was  different  about  the  Anglo-influenced  zones  which  made  them  less 
hospitable  to  African  deities?  Ultimately,  a  combination  of  black- to- white  ratios, 
importation  of  slaves  from  the  Caribbean,  and  European  religious  differences  provided 
the  answer.  The  territory  around  New  Orleans  and  the  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  Sea 
Islands,  both  of  which  were  major  centers  for  hoodoo,  had  high  black-to-white  population 
ratios  during  antebellum  times.  This  fact  doubtless  contributed  to  the  persistence  of 
magic  in  both  Latin  and  Anglo  zones.  In  addition,  the  concentration  of  African- 
Americans  made  the  continued  celebration  of  large-scale  religious  rituals  more  viable. 
Black-to- white  ratios  alone,  however,  cannot  explain  the  religious  differences  between 
the  Latin  and  Anglo  cultural  areas.  For  instance,  the  Sea  Islands,  where  blacks  often 
outnumbered  whites  several  times  over,  had  a  much  higher  percentage  of  blacks  than  did 
New  Orleans,  South  Florida,  or  Missouri,  all  of  which  showed  greater  pre-Christian 
survivals  during  the  nineteenth  century.15 


14Georgia  Writers'  Project,  Savannah  Unit,  Drums  and  Shadows,  113,  125,  131; 
Joyner,  144-1 50;  B.  A.  Botkin,  ed.,  Lay  My  Burden  Down:  A  Folk  History  of  Slavery 
(Athens  and  London:  University  of  Georgia  Press,  1945),  39. 

15Louisiana,  for  instance,  had  an  almost  equal  number  of  blacks  than  whites  in  the 
decades  preceding  the  Civil  War.  Whites  outnumbered  blacks  by  about  7,000  in  1 860, 
though  in  preceding  decades,  the  slight  imbalance  had  leaned  in  favor  of  African- 
Americans.  Florida,  in  contrast,  was  sparsely  populated,  with  the  over  77,000  white 
Floridians  outnumbering  African- Americans  by  around  15,000.  In  Missouri,  the 
imbalance  was  much  greater,  with  whites  outnumbering  blacks  by  about  5  to  1  in  1 820, 
increasing  to  almost  9  to  1  in  1860.  For  more  details,  see  Roller  and  Twyman,  s.v. 
"South  Carolina,"  by  George  C.  Rogers,  Jr.,  "Louisiana,"  by  Allen  J.  Begnand,  "Florida," 
by  Herbert  J.  Doherty,  Jr.,  and  "Missouri,"  by  M.  James  Kedro  and  Lyle  W.  Dorsett. 


78 
In  addition  to  high  black-to-white  ratios,  both  the  Latin  area  and  English  South 
Carolina  had  imported  many  of  their  slaves  from  the  Caribbean  islands.  African- 
European  syncretic  religions  had  developed  there  owing  to  an  even  more  pronounced  race 
imbalance  and  frequent  negative  population  growth  rates.  Planters  required  continued 
importation  of  native  Africans  to  support  the  profitable  sugar  trade  on  which  the  islands' 
economies  relied.  In  the  case  of  New  Orleans,  an  influx  of  several  thousand  Haitian 
slaves  between  1806  and  1810,  following  a  successful  slave-led  revolution  in  the  French 
colony,  certainly  spurred  the  growth  of  Voodoo  in  the  area.  Moreover,  the  Haitians' 
arrival  in  New  Orleans  took  place  at  a  time  when  75  percent  of  American  slaves  were 
born  in  the  United  States.  An  even  more  pronounced  case  prevailed  in  Florida.  There, 
black  Cubans  began  arriving  in  large  numbers  during  the  late  nineteenth  century  to  escape 
revolutions,  persecution,  and  economic  hardship.  The  Anglo  coast  had  received  no  such 
sudden  wave  of  immigrants.  Nevertheless,  ratios  and  late  Caribbean  immigration  cannot 
explain  the  vitality  of  pre-Christian  religion  in  the  Latin  zone.  Even  in  New  Orleans, 
Voodoo  had  been  strong  long  before  the  large-scale  arrival  of  Haitian  refugees.  In  the 
twenty  years  preceding  1800,  Louisiana's  European  governors  banned  the  importation  of 
slaves  from  Martinique  and  Haiti,  then  known  as  Santo  Domingo,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  preventing  the  growth  of  Voodoo,  already  perceived  as  a  social  problem.16 


16Sylvia  R.  Frey  and  Betty  Wood,  Come  Shouting  to  Zion:  African-American 
Protestantism  in  the  American  South  and  British  Caribbean  to  1830  (Chapel  Hill  and 
London:  University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1998),  63-148;  Herbert  Asbury,  The  French 
Quarter:  An  Informal  History  of  the  New  Orleans  Underworld  (New  York:  Alfred  A. 
Knopf,  Inc.,  1936),  254-283;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  317-319;  Pitkin,  194-196; 
Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  182,  184;  Alfred  Metraux,  Voodoo  in  Haiti,  trans,  by  Hugo 
Charteris  and  with  and  Introduction  by  Sidney  W.  Mintz  (New  York:  Schocken  Books, 
1972),  323-358;  Michael  A.  Gomez,  Exchanging  Our  Country  Marks:  The 
Transformation  of  African  Identities  in  the  Colonial  and  Antebellum  South  (Chapel  Hill 


79 
A  final  factor  in  preserving  the  religious  element  of  conjure  was  the  Latin  area's 
Catholicism,  which  allowed  blacks  to  continue  to  worship  their  ancestral  gods  under  the 
guise  of  saints,  a  common  practice  in  Haiti,  Cuba,  and  the  other  Caribbean  islands  from 
which  the  slaves  hailed.  The  reason  for  this  was  whites'  antipathy  to  Voodoo  and  related 
religions,  which  they  feared  as  witchcraft  and  a  potential  source  of  revolution.  The 
practice  of  identifying  gods  with  saints  grew  stronger  once  the  blacks  arrived  in  America, 
where  they  made  up  a  smaller  percentage  of  the  total  population,  allowing  whites  to  keep 
a  much  closer  watch  over  them.  For  example,  Papa  Lebat,  one  of  the  chief  Voodoo 
deities,  was  identical  to  the  Catholic  St.  Peter.  Likewise,  St.  Michael,  the  archangel,  was 
the  same  as  Voodoo  Magnian,  also  known  as  Blanc  Dani  or  Danny,  known  for  his 
serpentine  form  and  his  power  over  storms.  Over  time,  the  rationale  for  the  practice  of 
hiding  gods  under  the  names  of  saints  disappeared,  and  for  all  intents  and  purposes,  the 
gods  and  saints  became  the  same.  Adherents  considered  themselves  Catholics,  while 
continuing  to  serve  the  old  gods.  Unlike  Latin  Catholicism,  English  Protestantism  had  no 
saints,  making  it  more  difficult  for  blacks  to  preserve  their  old  pantheon  under  new 
names.17 

The  greatest  regional  distinctions  in  conjure  appeared  in  the  spiritual  foundations 
from  which  practitioners  derived  their  power.  In  the  Latin  cultural  area,  these  took  the 
form  of  deities.  Voodoo's  pantheon  of  gods  did  not  simply  receive  the  worship  of  their 
devotees.  Instead,  they  actively  aided  conjurers  in  their  spells.  Helen  Pitkin's  An  Angel 


and  London:  University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1998),  23;  Boggs,  1-4.  See  also 
Porteous,  48-63. 


17Frey  and  Wood,  63-148;  Gomez,  23. 


80 
by  Brevet  described  two  New  Orleans  hoodoo  rituals  which  incorporated  petitions  to  and 
possession  by  a  variety  of  gods,  including  Blanc  Dani,  Liba,  and  Vert  Agoussou.  George 
Washington  Cable  recorded  similar  spells  in  The  Grandissimes.  Hoodoo  doctors  chose 
which  gods  or  goddesses  to  address  based  on  their  particular  qualities.  For  instance, 
according  to  Cable,  in  matters  of  the  heart,  conjurers'  told  their  clients  to  call  upon 
Monsieur  Agoussou,  god  of  love,  and  Assonquer,  the  deity  of  good  luck,  to  ensure  that 
the  object  of  their  affections  would  reciprocate.  In  order  to  persuade  gods  to  accept  tasks, 
supplicants  were  to  make  offerings  and  otherwise  seek  to  please  them.  Those  who  sought 
the  aid  of  Agoussou  wore  red,  which  was  thought  to  be  the  favorite  color  of  the  deity.  In 
matters  of  money,  supplicants  could  positively  influence  Assonquer  by  offerings  of  pound 
cake,  cordial,  and  sugar  cane  syrup.  In  order  to  know  whether  Assonquer  had  accepted 
the  offerings,  clients  burned  green  candles  set  in  tumblers  filled  with  syrup.  If  the  flame 
burned  brightly,  the  god  had  accepted.  If  not,  his  help  was  doubtful.  Areas  outside  New 
Orleans  likewise  called  on  such  beings.  For  example,  Missouri  Voodooists  called  on 
Samunga  when  gathering  mud,  presumably  for  charms  and  spells.18 

The  Anglo  cultural  zone,  in  contrast,  had  no  pantheon  of  deities  to  call  on  for 
magical  purposes.  Instead,  hoodoo  doctors  in  these  areas  were  more  likely  to  call  on  the 
Christian  God  for  aid.  Such  was  the  case  with  William  Adams.  According  to  Adams, 
God  supplied  all  of  his  powers,  which  he  first  came  to  experience  as  a  small  child  before 
the  Civil  War.  Adams  further  elaborated,  explaining  that  God  chiefly  gives  the  power  to 
cast  out  or  keep  away  evil  spirits  and  the  devil.  He  exercised  his  sway  over  evil  through 


18Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  99-101,  135,  182-184,  257, 
272,  311,  447;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  241-242. 


81 
the  power  of  faith,  though  often  utilizing  charms,  such  as  salt  and  pepper  carried  in  a  sack 
hanging  from  a  person's  neck,  a  sovereign  mixture  for  repelling  malevolent  spirits.  The 
practice  of  attributing  the  power  of  conjure  to  God  was  widespread  throughout  the 
English- influenced  areas.  Students  at  Virginia's  Hampton  Institute  reported  that 
conjurers  usually  cited  God  as  the  source  of  their  abilities.  One  1897  article  made  clear 
the  pervasiveness  of  this  view.  The  reporter  observed  that  a  particular  conjure  woman 
"said  she  had  special  revelations  from  God,  as  do  all  the  conjure  doctors  I  have  ever  heard 
of."19  Belief  in  the  Christian  God  was  typical  in  the  Latin  zone  as  well,  even  among 
believers  in  Voodoo.  Followers  of  the  religion  knew  Him  as  Bon  Dieu,  meaning  "Good 
God"  in  French.  Surprisingly,  calling  on  God  for  magical  aid  was  rare  in  New  Orleans 
Voodoo.  While  most  recognized  God  as  the  supreme  deity  and  prayed  to  Him  in  the 
typical  Catholic  manner,  most  thought  Him  too  lofty  and  detached  from  the  world  to  be 
called  on  in  magic.20  On  the  border  of  the  Latin  cultural  area,  God  was  more  prominent 
in  magic.21  Mary  Alicia  Owen,  for  instance,  recorded  that  part  of  the  preparation  of  a 
"luck-ball"  required  an  incantation  opening  with  the  words,  "The  God  before  me,  God 
behind  me,  God  be  with  me,"  and  ending,  "I  call  for  it  in  the  Name  of  God."22 

While  hoodooists  in  the  Latin  cultural  zone  typically  attributed  the  power  of 
conjure  to  pre-Christian  deities  and  most  conjurers  in  the  Anglo  area  preferred  to  credit 


19"Some  Conjure  Doctors  We  Have  Heard  Of,"  37. 

20This  concept  of  God  is  the  same  in  Haitian  Vodou.  See  Metraux,  83-84. 

21  Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-22;  "Some  Conjure  Doctors  We 
Have  Heard  Of,"  37-38;  W.  and  C,  38-39;  Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  453-456,  468;  Mary 
Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232-233. 


22 


Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232-233. 


82 
God,  a  third  source  sometimes  appeared  throughout  both  regions.  This  was  the  devil  of 
Christian  belief.  Many  non-conjurers  attributed  all  hoodoo  to  him.  William  Adams,  who 
claimed  his  powers  from  God,  affirmed  that  others  gained  their  power  from  evil  sources. 
Likewise,  an  anonymous  contributor  to  the  Southern  Workman  reported  on  a  conjurer  he 
knew,  who  supposedly  learned  magic  by  consulting  the  devil.  In  some  cases,  nineteenth- 
century  hoodoo  doctors  agreed,  though  open  admissions  of  leagues  with  Satan  were  rare. 
In  the  early  twentieth  century,  Zora  Neale  Hurston  discovered  one  such  practitioner,  who 
she  called  Dr.  Barnes.  Before  undertaking  spells,  Barnes  would  go  to  a  fork  in  the  road  at 
midnight,  where  he  prayed  to  the  devil  for  success  in  his  spells.  More  typical  than  Dr. 
Barnes  were  those  who  accepted  power  from  the  hands  of  both  God  and  the  devil. 
Although  Christian  theology  typically  depicts  the  devil  as  the  opposite  of  God,  to 
pragmatic  conjurers,  either  could  be  relied  on  for  aid.  The  nature  of  the  work  to  be 
accomplished  was  the  determining  factor  in  hoodooists'  choice  of  spiritual  being.  This 
practice  was  usual  for  Missouri  hoodooists.  "King  Alexander,"  the  most  renowned  of  the 
conjurers  interviewed  by  Owen,  claimed  to  be  able  to  control  the  devil,  using  him  in  the 
making  of  "bad  tricks."  For  charms  designed  to  bring  positive  results,  he  called  on  God 
for  aid.23 

The  means  of  acquiring  supernatural  powers  were  as  varied  as  their  sources,  but 
they  fell  into  three  categories.  First,  some  hoodoo  doctors  were  specially  gifted  with  the 
ability  to  conjure.  Such  was  the  case  with  William  Adams.  He  answered  an  interviewer 


23Joyner,  144-150;  Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-22;  "Some 
Conjure  Doctors  We  Have  Heard  Of,"  38;  Herron,  117;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America," 
390-391;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  231-235.  See  also  Livermore,  254-255, 
who  describes  an  exhorter/conjurer  who  prayed  to  both  God  in  the  devil  during  a  church 
service. 


83 
who  had  asked  how  he  learned  to  conjure  by  saying,  "Well,  I's  don'  larn  it.  It  come  to 
me.  We'n  de  Lawd  gives  sich  powah  to  a  person,  it  jus'  comes  to  them."24  Though  such 
blessings  happened  throughout  the  South,  it  was  most  common  in  the  English-influenced 
lands,  where  Protestant  Christianity  stressed  familiarity  with  the  Bible.  To  justify  his 
occult  practices,  Adams  relied  on  the  Bible,  specifically  citing  Mark  3:14-15.  The 
scripture  reads,  "And  he  ordained  twelve,  that  they  should  be  with  him,  and  that  he  might 
send  them  forth  to  preach;  And  to  have  power  to  heal  sicknesses,  and  to  cast  out  devils." 
For  Adams,  who  claimed  that  the  reason  for  his  abilities  was  a  spiritual  gift  to  drive  out 
evil  spirits,  these  verses  provided  scriptural  proof  of  their  existence.  Other  Biblical 
teachings  likewise  favored  the  view  that  ability  to  conjure  was  an  unsought  blessing  from 
God.  One  such  reference  is  1  Corinthians  12.  It  describes  such  spiritual  gifts  as  healing, 
prophecy,  tongues,  and  discerning  of  spirits  to  be  manifestations  of  the  indwelling  Holy 
Spirit,  who  gives  them  to  individuals  in  order  to  make  them  productive  servants  of  God. 
Within  a  worldview  that  credited  God  or  other  supernatural  beings  with  the  ability  to 
confer  magical  aptitude  on  humans,  people  did  not  need  to  seek  out  the  divine.  It  found 
them.  Most  often,  indications  of  being  endowed  with  magical  powers  simply  took  the 
form  of  certain  signs  attending  the  birth  or  life  of  the  hoodoo  doctor-to-be.  Unusual 
sequences  of  birth  could  indicate  that  one  possessed  inherent  powers  of  conjuration. 
Being  a  twin,  the  next  born  after  twins,  or  the  seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  designated 
many  as  trick  doctors.  Strange  circumstances  in  the  birth  itself  were  another  way  for 
blacks  to  recognize  a  potential  conjurer.  Being  delivered  feet  first  or  with  a  caul  over 
one's  face  were  two  of  the  most  commonly  recognized  of  these  signs.  Other  conjurers 


24 Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  17. 


84 
were  readily  identifiable  by  unusual  physical  features,  such  as  light  or  different  colored 
eyes,  red  eyes,  albinism,  serious  deformities  or  disabilities,  strange  birthmarks,  or  perhaps 
the  best-known  peculiarity,  blue  gums.  Not  all  divinely-gifted  hoodooists  were  so  from 
birth,  however.  For  example,  in  Conjuring  Culture,  Theophus  H.  Smith  wrote  that 
Sojourner  Truth,  the  famous  antebellum  black  activist  and  religious  leader,  was  a 
conjurer,  given  prophetic  powers  as  a  gift  from  God  through  divine  visions.  Smith's 
interpretation  matched  that  of  William  Adams'  understanding  of  God's  magical  role  in 
the  world.25 

While  most  conjurers  welcomed  divine  gifts  of  magical  powers,  a  few  did  not, 
particularly  when  they  came  from  beings  other  than  God.  One  example  of  an  unwilling 
tool  of  the  supernatural  was  Robert  Williams.  He  was  driven  to  conjure  after  three  people 
with  whom  he  had  recently  had  contact  sickened  and  died.  The  black  community  of 
Grovetown,  Georgia,  his  home,  refused  to  further  associate  with  him.  They  accused  him 
of  possessing  evil  powers.  The  result  was  that  he  had  to  move  outside  the  town  and  earn 
a  living  through  the  practice  of  magic.  A  particularly  powerful  story  of  one  who  tried  to 
flee  his  assigned  role  as  a  hoodooist  was  that  of  Donis,  a  late  nineteenth-  or  early 
twentieth-century  conjurer.  Having  no  aspirations  to  practice  hoodoo,  he  unsuspectingly: 

picked  up  a  hat  that  had  been  blown  from  another  negro's  head  in  a 
whirlwind.  He  handed  the  hat  back  to  the  man.  A  few  hours  later  the 
owner  of  the  hat  stooped  to  untangle  the  traces  from  his  black  mule's  leg. 
He  was  laughing.  The  mule  became  frightened  and  kicked  the  man  to 


25 Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  17;  Joyner,  83,  146,  284;  Raboteau, 
146;  Herron,  117;  Smith,  162-174;  Sojourner  Truth,  Narrative  of  Sojourner  Truth,  a 
Northern  Slave,  Emancipated  from  Bodily  Sevitude  by  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1828,  in 
Slave  Narratives,  ed.  William  L.  Andrews  and  Henry  Louis  Gates,  Jr.,  Library  of  America 
Series,  no.l  14  (New  York:  Literary  Classics  of  the  United  States,  Inc.,  2000),  567-676; 
Puckett,  214-215. 


85 

death.  He  had  died  laughing  aloud,  and  his  death  was  attributed  to  Donis 
who  had  taken  the  hat  from  the  devil  in  the  whirlwind.  Men  would  no 
longer  work  around  him.  He  could  not  get  a  place  to  stay  or  eat. 
Eventually  he  was  forced  to  live  away  from  his  fellows  . . .  and  follow 
conjuring  as  a  trade.26 

Fortunately  for  nineteenth-century  African- Americans,  the  experiences  of  Williams  and 

Donis  were  uncommon,  and  the  temporal  rewards  of  hoodoo  were  often  enough  to 

persuade  even  the  reluctant  to  embrace  their  position.27 

Inheritance  of  supernatural  abilities  from  forebears  was  a  second  means  of 

obtaining  the  ability  to  conjure.  Before  the  Civil  War,  slaves  generally  held  that  native 

Africans  possessed  supernatural  powers  by  virtue  of  the  land  of  their  birth.  In  New 

Orleans,  Dr.  John  Bayou  claimed  to  be  the  child  of  a  Senegalese  prince.  Without  doubt, 

he  was  a  native  African,  as  witnessed  by  ceremonial  scarring  on  his  temples  and  cheeks. 

His  ancestry  helped  him  build  a  reputation  as  a  mighty  Voodoo  sorcerer  that  warranted  an 

obituary  in  Harper 's  Weekly  upon  his  death  in  1885.  Belief  in  the  magical  aptitude  of 

native  Africans  was  not  confined  to  the  Latin  cultural  area,  however.  The  Georgia 

Writers  Project,  under  the  aegis  of  the  Works  Progress  Administration,  found  that  belief 

in  their  supernatural  abilities  was  widespread  among  the  state's  coastal  blacks  as  late  as 

the  1930s.  Charles  Hunter,  an  African- American  resident  of  Harrington,  Georgia,  told  of 

a  conjurer  he  knew  as  a  boy.  The  conjurer,  one  Alexander,  was  African-born,  a 

circumstance  that  he  claimed  gave  him  the  ability  to  harm  others,  cure  all  diseases,  and 

even  fly.  The  latter,  Alexander  maintained,  was  an  ability  possessed  by  his  entire  African 


26 


Bass,  "Mojo,"  83. 

27Bass,  "Mojo,"  83;  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in 
Georgia,"  178-179. 


86 
family.  Georgia  blacks  also  attributed  the  powers  of  invisibility,  to  make  others  invisible, 
and  to  boil  water  without  fire  to  those  of  African  birth.  More  important  than  birthplace, 
however,  were  immediate  ancestors  who  were  conjurers.  The  best-known  cases  of 
parent-to-child  inheritance  were  the  daughter  and  granddaughter  of  Marie  Laveau,  who 
reportedly  took  over  the  practice  of  the  original.  Whether  the  stories  of  the  multiple 
Laveaus  were  true  or  not,  kinship  to  Marie  Laveau,  genuine  or  fictional,  was  of  great 
benefit  to  New  Orleans  hoodooists.  When  Zora  Neale  Hurston  interviewed  many  of  the 
city's  conjurers  during  the  1920s  and  1930s,  at  least  two  of  them  claimed  to  be  grand 
nephews  of  the  great  Voodoo  queen.  Moreover,  the  importance  of  a  hoodooist  for  a 
parent  was  not  limited  to  Louisiana.  Second  in  fame  only  to  Marie  Laveau,  Stephaney 
Robinson,  better  known  as  Dr.  Buzzard  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  claimed  to  be  the 
son  of  a  conjurer.  Following  his  death  in  the  mid-twentieth  century,  his  son-in-law  took 
over  the  family  business,  adopting  the  name,  "Dr.  Buzzard,"  for  his  own,  though  he  was 
more  affectionately  known  as  "Buzzy."  "Aunt"  Mymee  Whitehead,  a  conjure  woman 
who  served  as  the  childhood  nurse  of  Mary  Alicia  Owen,  was  doubly  blessed  as  the  child 
of  an  African  sorceress  who  gave  birth  to  her  shortly  after  arriving  in  America. 
According  to  Mymee,  her  mother's  power  was  so  great  that  she  fled  her  native  land  on 
board  a  slave  ship  to  escape  the  wrath  of  her  fellow  countrymen,  who  both  hated  and 
feared  her.28 


28Hearn,  "Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  726-727;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  33-39; 
Georgia  Writer's  Project,  Savannah  Unit,  Drums  and  Shadows,  7,  24,  28,  67-69,  121, 
168-169,  177;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  326-362;  McTeer,  Fifty  Years  as  a 
Lowcountry  Witch  Doctor,  21-30;  Pinckney,  119-120. 


87 
Although  most  conjurers  would  prefer  to  be  gifted  with  or  inherit  supernatural 
power,  those  who  were  not  could  overcome  this  misfortune  through  ritual  initiations, 
which  were  far  more  common  in  the  Latin  cultural  zone.  Unfortunately,  few  accounts  of 
these  exist  from  the  nineteenth  century.  The  easiest  way  to  overcome  the  misfortunes  of 
birth  or  divine  favor  was  also  the  most  sinister,  consisting  of  a  pact  with  the  devil.  One 
of  the  few  to  speak  from  firsthand  knowledge  of  this  was  Zora  Neale  Hurston.  During  the 
course  of  her  investigations,  Hurston  underwent  several  initiations  by  various  hoodoo 
doctors,  the  most  simple  of  which  consisted  of  Dr.  Barnes'  and  her  trip  to  a  fork  in  a  road 
at  midnight,  where  they  prayed  to  the  devil  for  success.  While  Hurston  considered  this  to 
be  "no  real  initiation  ceremony,"  it  strongly  resembled  several  rituals  of  selling  one's  soul 
recorded  by  Harry  Middleton  Hyatt.29  Like  Hurston's  experience,  Hyatt's  accounts 
typically  consisted  of  praying  to  the  devil  at  the  fork  in  a  road  or  crossroads,  sometimes 
with  the  added  feature  that  the  pacts  must  be  contracted  at  midnight.30 

More  rigorous,  but  lacking  the  indebtedness  to  Satan,  were  the  rituals  by  which 
Latin-area  Voodooists  gained  their  powers.  Hurston  underwent  several.  Samuel 
Thompson  supervised  one  of  the  more  complex  of  these  rites.  Hurston's  initiation  began 
simply,  with  the  wearing  of  a  stocking  on  her  right  foot  for  nine  nights.  For  these  days, 
she  was  to  refrain  from  sexually  defiling  herself  in  mind  or  action.  In  preparation  for  the 
rest  of  the  initiation,  she  paid  Thompson  an  unspecified  sum  and  purchased  three  snake 
skins,  one  of  a  water  moccasin,  one  of  a  kingsnake,  and  one  of  a  rattlesnake.  At  the  end 


29Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  290. 

30Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  390-391;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  97-1 1 1. 


88 
of  the  nine  days,  Hurston  returned  to  Thompson,  who  prayed  that  the  "Great  One"  would 
enter  the  skins.  The  moccasin  skin  was  placed  upon  a  couch  draped  in  green,  and 
Hurston  lay  nude  and  face  down  upon  the  couch.  At  her  head  was  ajar  of  water  for  the 
serpent  spirit.  For  three  days,  Hurston  lay  thus,  in  the  belief  that  her  soul  was  standing 
before  the  Great  One,  seeking  favor.31 

Her  vigil  ended  at  1 1 :00  on  St.  Joseph's  Day,  March  19.  At  this  time,  Thompson 
and  two  other  men  approached.  After  passing  Hurston  through  running  water,  they 
painted  a  lightening  bolt  across  her  back,  a  sun  on  her  forehead,  and  eyes  on  her  cheeks. 
The  lightening  stroke  indicated  the  Great  One's  method  of  speaking  to  her  through 
storms.  During  this  process,  the  men  dressed  her  in  new  clothes  and  a  veil.  Next,  others 
entered  the  room  and  performed  ceremonies,  after  which  they  cut  their  fingers  as  well  as 
one  of  Hurston's.  They  then  mingled  their  blood  with  wine  in  a  glass.  Each  person 
present  drank  some  of  the  mixture.  At  12:00,  Thompson  and  his  assistants  sat  Hurston 
before  an  altar  bearing  a  communion  candle,  with  her  name  set  into  it  with  sand.  Copious 
amounts  of  food  and  various  sacred  items  covered  the  rest  of  the  altar's  surface.  After 
asking  the  Great  One  to  accept  Hurston,  Thompson  lifted  her  veil  and  placed  a  sacred 
crown  upon  her  head.  A  ritual  feast  followed.32 

The  final  act  of  the  initiation  took  place  outside  at  midnight.  Its  chief  features 
included  making  a  broom  and  sacrificing  a  sheep.  As  the  sheep  lay  dying  with  its  throat 
slit,  those  present  thrust  nine  sheets  of  paper,  on  which  a  petition  for  power  from  Hurston 
had  been  written  nine  times,  into  the  sheep's  wound.  The  reason  for  this  seemingly 


31Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  357-360. 
32Ibid. 


89 
inhumane  act  was  so  that  the  sheep  would  cry  out  the  petition  to  the  Great  One  with  its 
dying  breath.  As  long  as  blood  continued  to  flow  from  the  sheep,  one  of  those  present 
dipped  the  broom  into  the  blood  and  swept  the  ground.  After  the  animal  was  dead,  they 
dug  the  earth  from  beneath  it  and  buried  it,  placing  a  white  candle  on  its  grave.  From  this 
point  forward,  Hurston  had  a  special  relationship  to  the  Great  One,  doubtless  identical 
with  Voodoo  Magnian  and  Danny,  who  the  previous  century's  devotees  worshiped  in  the 
form  of  a  snake  and  who  ruled  the  storm.33 

The  most  reliable  account  of  nineteenth-century  Voodoo  initiations  came  from 
Missouri.  One  of  those  recorded  by  Mary  Alicia  Owen  consisted  of  walking  backward, 
with  uncovered  head  and  feet,  into  a  fallow  field  at  midnight.  There,  the  initiate  would 
pull  up  a  weed  from  behind  his  or  her  back,  which  he  or  she  would  then  take  home  to 
keep  under  the  bed  until  morning.  Upon  waking,  he  or  she  would  strip  off  the  leaves  and 
make  them  into  a  packet,  to  be  worn  under  the  right  arm  for  nine  days.  At  the  end  of  the 
specified  period,  the  leaves  were  to  be  removed  and  scattered  in  each  of  the  four 
directions  by  throwing  them  over  the  right  shoulder.34 

Although  most  initiations  took  place  in  the  Latin  area,  they  sometimes  appeared 
elsewhere.  For  instance,  George  Foss  of  Virginia,  told  stories  of  Jim  Royal,  a  slave,  who 
gained  magical  powers  by  undergoing  an  initiation.  It  involved  being  locked  in  an 
outhouse  into  which  a  variety  of  frightening  creatures  entered  to  test  his  mettle.  While 
Foss'  stories  were  folkloric,  Carl  Carmer  recorded  a  rare  factual  account  of  an  Anglo-area 
initiation  in  Stars  Fell  on  Alabama.  According  to  the  author,  Ida  Carter  began  her  self- 


33Ibid. 

34Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  231-232. 


90 
initiation  when  she  was  seven  years  old  by  burning  seven  candles  all  night  on  May  1 .35 
She  did  so  each  night  for  the  next  six  days.  Every  May  for  seven  years,  she  repeated  the 
process.  Before  she  reached  her  fourteenth  year,  she  had  become  a  conjure  woman 
known  as  "Seven  Sisters."  Unlike  New  Orleans  Voodooists,  who  offered  themselves  to  a 
particular  god,  Carter  entered  into  a  special  relationship  with  Jesus  Christ,  who  revealed 
whatever  she  needed  to  know.36 

Regardless  of  the  manner  in  which  conjurers  gained  their  supernatural  abilities, 
virtually  all  underwent  a  period  of  religious  training.  In  the  area  settled  by  the  French  and 
Spanish,  the  learning  process  often  took  the  form  of  apprenticeship  to  master  conjurers. 
In  her  study  of  Missouri  hoodooists,  Owen  discovered  that  following  initiation,  conjurers- 
to-be  underwent  periods  of  study  under  members  of  the  opposite  sex.  If  a  teacher  of  the 
proper  sex  was  unavailable,  students  and  teachers  took  turns  playing  the  role  of  the 
missing  gender.  Moreover,  throughout  the  course  of  the  initiation,  novices  would  adopt  a 
secret  name,  which  he  or  she  would  use  when  performing  spells.  The  first  objective  was 
to  learn  "luck  numbers"  which  would  appear  in  charms  and  spells  to  ensure  their  success. 
Second,  apprentices  studied  the  various  materials  used  to  make  charms,  learning  their 
virtues,  propitious  harvest  times,  and  other  secrets.  Tutelage  in  the  manufacture  of  such 
charms  followed.  The  next  step  in  the  process  of  apprenticeship  was  learning  of  the  lore 


35Since  the  woman  Carmer  met  was  evidently  mature  and  possibly  past  middle 
age,  this  initiation  likely  took  place  during  the  nineteenth  century.  In  addition,  Carter's 
initiation,  which  took  place  in  southeastern  Alabama,  may  have  been  influenced  by 
Voodoo  or  Nanigo  practiced  in  the  nearby  Latin-settled  states  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  or 
even  in  the  territory  around  Mobile,  Alabama,  which  was  itself  once  a  French  settlement. 

36W.  K.  McNeil,  ed.,  Ghost  Stories  from  the  American  South  (Little  Rock:  August 
House,  1985),  115-1 19;  Carmer,  193,  215-218. 


91 
of  the  Grandfather  Rattlesnake,  the  Voodoo  Magnian  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo.  Finally, 
novices  participated  in  two  dances:  a  snake  dance  in  honor  of  Grandfather  Rattlesnake, 
which  supposedly  gave  them  strength  of  mind  and  a  fire  dance  to  gain  strength  of  body. 
Only  when  these  steps  were  complete  did  potential  conjurers  enter  the  ranks  of  "the 
Circle,"  a  decentralized  Missouri  hoodoo  society.37 

If  Hurston's  later  reports  can  be  applied  to  the  nineteenth  century,  a  similar 
process  of  apprenticeship  prevailed  in  New  Orleans.  Under  Father  Simms,  known  as  "the 
Frizzly  Rooster,"  she  began  her  course  of  study  by  helping  her  master  in  the  more 
mundane  tasks  of  hoodoo,  including  spreading  magical  powders  around  clients'  homes 
and  other  tasks  requiring  only  superficial  knowledge.  During  this  time,  Simms  never  told 
her  the  purpose  of  what  she  was  doing.  After  two  weeks,  Simms  initiated  her  in  a  manner 
similar  to  that  she  underwent  with  Samuel  Thompson,  giving  her  the  title  "Boss  of 
Candles."  Following  this  ceremony,  she  began  to  hold  her  meetings  with  clients.  During 
this  time,  she  consulted  Simms  as  to  what  steps  should  be  taken  in  particular 
circumstances,  learning  his  greatest  magical  formulas  in  the  process.38 

Those  from  the  Anglo  area,  who  usually  relied  on  God  for  divine  inspiration,  also 
studied  magic.  Seven  Sisters,  who  maintained  that  "a  spirit  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ" 
told  her  how  to  perform  magic,  admitted  that  there  had  been  an  "old  voodoo  woman  lived 
next  my  mammy's  cabin.  She  tol'  me  how  to  trick."39  Ironically,  she  went  on  to  define 
voodoo  as  evil,  while  proclaiming  her  magic  as  good.  Even  William  Adams,  who 


37Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  230-238. 

38Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  380-382;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  213-221. 

39Carmer,218. 


92 
professed  that  he  did  not  need  to  learn  magic  because  God  revealed  all  he  needed  to 
know,  stated  that  he  had  learned  some  of  the  "signs  dat  de  Lawd  uses  to  reveal  His  laws" 
from  his  mother  and  other  people  during  his  days  as  a  slave  child.  As  in  so  many 
professions,  both  innate  ability  and  a  period  of  learning  gave  conjurers  the  tools  they 
needed  to  operate  in  nineteenth-century  America.40 

Conjurers  throughout  the  South  usually  exerted  their  power  in  the  manufacture  of 
powders,  washes,  and  charms,  each  with  its  own  indwelling  spirit.  Charms,  the  most 
popular  form  of  hoodooists  manufactures,  were  commonly  known  as  "hands,"  "jacks," 
"tobies,"  "mojos,"  or  "luck  balls"  when  employed  for  benevolent  ends  and  "tricks," 
"wanga  bags,"  or  "conjure  bags"  when  used  to  harm  someone.41  In  the  manufacture  of 
these  items,  spirits  other  than  the  hoodoo  doctors'  ultimate  source  of  power  played  a  role. 
These  spirits  were  of  two  sorts.  The  first  were  animistic  spirits,  which,  it  was  claimed, 
dwelt  in  every  natural  and  manufactured  item,  from  animals  to  trees  to  household  items 
like  needles  and  buttons.  Ruth  Bass'  "Mojo:  The  Strange  Magic  That  Works  in  the  South 
To-day"  persuasively  argued  the  tenacity  of  the  belief  in  animistic  spirits  among  southern 
blacks.  Bass  recorded  that  conjurers  of  her  acquaintance  spoke  to  pots  when  they  refused 
to  boil,  fish  hooks  when  they  failed  to  catch  fish,  and  trees  when  they  wished  to  learn 
wisdom.  One  ninety-six-year-old  conjurer,  called  "Divinity,"  explained  the  virtues  of 
herbs  by  stating  that  their  indwelling  spirits  were  what  healed  various  ailments  by  driving 
them  away.  In  order  to  prove  his  point,  he  offered  to  take  the  author  to  a  spring  that  was 


^Carmer,  217-218;  Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  17. 

41For  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  patterns  in  conjure,  see  Michael  E.  Bell,  "Pattern, 
Structure,  and  Logic  in  Afro- American  Hoodoo  Performance"  (Ph.D.  diss.,  Indiana 
University,  1980).  See  also  Whitten,  310-325 


93 

haunted  by  the  ghost  of  a  bucket.  Paraphrasing  Divinity,  Bass  wrote,  "Now  if  that  bucket 
didn't  have  a  spirit  where  did  its  ghost  come  from?"42  By  the  late  nineteenth  century, 
explicit  recognition  of  this  belief  had  begun  to  fade,  but  though  disappearing  from  blacks' 
personal  theologies,  it  remained  strong  in  the  practice  of  magic.  According  to  former 
slave  Henry  F.  Pyles,  a  hand  designed  to  attract  women  to  its  possessor  must  be  soaked  in 
whiskey.  The  act  was  designed  to  win  the  favor  of  the  charm's  indwelling  spirit.  This 
practice  of  "feeding"  the  hand  played  a  role  in  the  manufacture  of  a  charm  created  by 
King  Alexander,  who  combined  several  items  in  a  luck  ball,  upon  which  he  spat  whiskey. 
After  giving  the  charm  to  Mary  Owen,  he  instructed  her  to  wet  it  once  a  week  in  order  to 
keep  its  spirit  strong.43 

A  second  type  of  spirits  were  those  of  humans.  Most  frequently,  conjurers  used 
them  after  the  death  of  their  bodies  in  the  form  of  dirt  collected  from  graves,  called 
"goopher  dust"  in  the  Anglo  zone,  or  by  burying  items  in  graves.  A  onetime  Florida 
slave,  Samuel  Simeon  Andrews,  called  on  the  power  of  the  dead  when  he  anointed  his 
feet  with  goopher  dust  to  elude  slave-tracking  dogs.  At  times,  hoodoo  doctors  used  body 
parts,  though  these  were  more  difficult  to  come  by.  One  star-crossed  lover  reported  that 
during  the  late  1 800s,  a  rival  stole  his  wife  from  him  by  using  a  bone  from  a  dead 
preacher.  In  rare  cases,  the  human  spirit  did  not  have  to  be  that  of  a  dead  person.  For 


42Bass,  "Mojo,"  88. 

43Bass,  "Mojo,"  87-88;  Pyles,  328-329;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  233. 
For  more  on  Divinity,  see  Ruth  Bass,  "The  Little  Man,"  Scribner's  Magazine  97  (1935): 
120-123. 


94 
example,  when  King  Alexander  spat  whiskey  on  charms,  he  claimed  that  part  of  his  spirit 
was  entering  them.44 

While  they  offered  spells  and  charms  for  virtually  any  desired  result,  hoodoo 
doctors'  business  consisted  of  three  basic  types.  The  first  class  of  customers  was 
composed  of  those  who  simply  wanted  to  employ  conjurers'  powers  of  divination,  most 
commonly  to  foresee  the  future.  This  type  of  magic  was  easily  accomplished  through  the 
use  of  playing  cards,  coffee  grounds,  water- filled  gourds,  or  eggs  broken  in  water  to  tell 
fortunes.  Those  who  hoped  to  purchase  charms  to  bring  about  specific  results,  ranging 
from  the  prevention  of  disease  to  success  in  love,  formed  a  second  class  of  customer.  As 
with  fortune-telling,  these  cases  were  usually  simple,  consisting  of  casting  spells  and/or 
making  charms  in  accordance  with  customers'  requests.  Examples  of  this  type  of  conjure 
were  the  cases  of  former  slaves  like  Frederick  Douglass  and  Henry  Bibb,  who  obtained 
charms  designed  for  the  express  purpose  of  averting  punishment  by  cruel  masters.  Those 
who  received  the  greatest  proportion  of  the  hoodooists'  attention,  however,  were  those 
who  believed  themselves  to  have  been  conjured.  Such  cases  consisted  of  a  multi-step 
process  divided  into  three  phases:  diagnosis,  curing,  and  turning  back.45  The  first  phase, 
diagnosis,  had  two  steps.  To  begin  with,  hoodoo  doctors  had  to  determine  whether 
victims'  afflictions  were  the  result  of  magic  and  what  form  it  took.  Next,  they  had  to 


"Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  233;  Pinckney,  54-55,  95,  102,  107,  155; 
Samuel  Simeon  Andrews,  interview  by  Rachel  A.  Austin  (Jacksonville,  FL,  October  27, 
1936),  The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed., 
(Westport,  CT:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1976),  vol.  17,  10-20;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo- 
Conjuration-  Witchcraft-Rootwork,  284-286. 

45For  the  primary  influence  behind  my  understanding  of  the  process  of  curing 
conjure,  see  Bacon,  210-211. 


95 
discover  who  was  to  blame.  Both  steps  often  involved  some  form  of  divination,  similar 
to  that  used  in  fortune  telling.  Following  diagnosis,  hoodooists  cured  the  problem,  again 
in  two  steps.  The  first  and  most  important  of  these  was  to  eliminate  the  source  of  the 
malevolent  magic,  which  was  often  some  form  of  a  physical  conjure  bag  or  trick  located 
by  divination.  Second,  hoodooists  removed  the  symptoms  of  conjuration  from  the  victim. 
The  final  phase,  consisting  of  only  one  step,  involved  turning  the  spell  back  on  the  one 
who  had  cast  it.46 

Several  examples  of  curing  conjure  exist  from  the  nineteenth  century.  Daniel 
Webster  Davis  recorded  a  composite  account  of  this  three-phase  cure  in  an  1898  article 
for  Southern  Workman.  According  to  Davis,  a  typical  case  of  counter-conjure  consisted 
of  the  doctor,  a  male  in  this  account,  identifying  the  presence  of  conjure,  which  would 
result  in  snakes  infesting  her  body,  her  hair  falling  out,  and  eventual  death.  He  then 
proceeded  to  announce  that  the  female  client  had  an  enemy  who  was  in  love  with  her 
husband,  though  remaining  vague  as  to  the  person's  identity.  Then,  he  discovered  the 
location  of  a  harmful  charm  by  sprinkling  the  blood  of  a  chicken  into  his  left  hand  and 
then  striking  it  with  the  forefinger  of  the  other  hand.  The  direction  in  which  the  most 
blood  flew  was  that  in  which  the  immediate  source  of  the  evil  magic  lay.  Following  the 
blood,  the  hoodooist  dug  until  uncovering  a  bottle  containing  various  articles  ranging 
from  a  dead  snake  to  bent  needles.  With  the  source  of  the  malady  removed,  the  conjurer 


46 Ann  Parker,  interview  by  Mary  A.  Hicks  (Raleigh,  NC,  October  27,  1936),  The 
American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport,  CT: 
Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1976),  vol.  15,  157;  Brown,  My  Southern  Home,  70; 
Breslaw,  535-556;  Bacon,  210-211;  Bibb,  26-27;  Douglass,  41-42. 


96 

easily  cured  the  symptoms  by  application  of  a  variety  of  unidentified  home  remedies.  His 
last  act  was  to  turn  the  spell  back  on  the  one  who  had  cast  it.47 

While  the  account  given  by  Davis  illustrates  the  classic  process  of  diagnosis  and 
cure,  not  all  cases  employed  the  full  five-step  process.  One  of  the  cases  treated  by  Zippy 
Tull  was  an  example.  Around  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  a  man  from  Princess  Ann, 
Maryland,  named  George,  went  to  see  Tull  in  order  to  have  his  fortune  told.  What  he  got 
was  much  more.  After  using  cards  to  foresee  his  future,  Tull  revealed  that  she  had  also 
found  that  he  was  the  victim  of  conjure,  brought  about  by  a  "big  dark  woman."  The 
mysterious  woman,  she  said,  hated  George's  parents  and  had  already  killed  his  dog. 
Next,  instead  of  simply  leaving  the  identification  of  the  enemy  as  a  brief  description,  she 
used  magic  to  compel  her  to  approach  George's  mother  and  reveal  her  deeds.  Tull 
skipped  the  third  step  of  diagnosis,  however,  not  bothering  to  seek  for  a  hidden  charm. 
Furthermore,  Tull  combined  the  curing  and  turning  back  phases  into  one,  instructing 
George  to  fill  a  bottle  with  new  pins  and  needles,  his  own  urine,  and  several  other 
unnamed  materials.  The  bottle,  she  said,  should  then  be  buried  upside  down  in  his 
fireplace  and  covered  with  a  brick.  As  the  liquid  leaked  from  the  bottle,  the  enemy  would 
pine  away.  Once  it  was  all  gone,  she  would  be  dead,  and  his  ailment  would  leave  him. 
When  his  enemy  died,  from  suffocation  in  this  case,  the  first  step  of  the  curing  phase  was 
also  accomplished,  due  to  the  elimination  of  the  source  of  the  malevolent  magic.48 


47Daniel  Davis,  251-252.  In  this  account,  Davis  altered  the  order  of  the  steps, 
stating  that  the  doctor  offered  to  turn  back  the  spell  immediately  after  rinding  the  buried 
charm,  before  completing  the  cure. 

48Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  923-924;  Herron,  251-252. 


97 
The  choice  of  items  and  actions  used  in  making  charms  and  performing  spells 
rested  with  the  conjurer  but  relied  on  the  universal  magical  principles  of  contagion  and 
sympathy  and  appeals  to  spirits.  Contagion  is  the  idea  that  objects  once  in  contact 
continue  to  influence  each  other.  On  the  other  hand,  the  principle  of  sympathy  holds  that 
objects  that  possess  characteristics  similar  to  spells'  intended  results  can  bring  them  into 
being.  The  best  materials  to  use  for  contagious  magic  were  portions  of  conjure  victims' 
bodies  or  their  byproducts,  such  as  hair,  fingernail  clippings,  sweat,  or  excrement.  When 
these  materials  were  difficult  or  impossible  to  obtain,  objects  that  have  merely  touched 
the  body  will  do.  In  some  cases,  the  items  used  need  only  to  have  been  in  metaphysical 
contact  with  the  person  to  be  conjured.  Written  names  sometimes  substituted  for  physical 
contact,  which  was  particularly  common  in  court  case  spells  common  in  the  late 
nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries.49  The  principle  of  sympathy,  in  contrast,  was 
not  specific  to  the  individuals  to  be  conjured.  For  instance,  by  sprinkling  dried  and 
powdered  reptiles,  amphibians,  or  other  creatures  in  the  food  of  victims,  hoodoo  doctors 
could  reportedly  cause  them  to  enter  the  bodies  of  people  who  ate  it.  Other  forms  of 
sympathy  were  not  so  blatant.50  Pillow  magic,  in  which  hoodooists  caused  feathers  inside 
pillows  to  form  shapes  which  would  then  harm  sleepers,  is  one  such  example.  In  one 
case,  a  woman  whose  husband  had  taken  ill  consulted  a  conjurer,  who  told  her  to  open  his 
pillow.  Inside,  she  found  "half  a  dozen  or  more  tiny  conglomerations  of  feathers,  closely 


49For  examples,  see  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  274-275.  Hurston  also  provides  an 
example,  supposedly  utilized  by  Marie  Laveau  herself,  in  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  332- 
333. 

50The  famed  Voodoo  dolls  of  popular  conceptions  of  African- American  sorcery 
were  yet  another  form  of  contagious  magic.  I  do  not  give  them  further  attention  for  the 
simple  fact  that  they  were  rare  in  American  South. 


98 
resembling  the  plumes  of  a  hearse."51  After  she  removed  and  destroyed  them,  the  man 
recovered.  Time  and  spatial  orientation  also  frequently  appeared  in  sympathetic  magic. 
Night  was  the  typical  time  for  performing  malevolent  magic,  due  to  its  association  with 
mystery  and  evil.  Likewise,  inversion  of  objects  was  one  means  of  reversing  the  effects 
of  magic.  In  practice,  the  principles  of  contagion  and  sympathy  operated  in  conjunction 
to  bring  about  desired  results.52 

Mrs.  Williams  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  experienced  one  of  the  best  examples  of 
the  interplay  between  contagion  and  sympathy.  In  this  case,  a  woman  named  Harriet 
Henderson  conjured  Williams'  grandmother,  who  had  once  been  her  friend,  by  secretly 
cutting  a  coffin-shaped  piece  of  cloth  from  her  underwear  as  it  lay  drying  on  a  bush. 
Williams'  grandmother  sewed  the  hole  shut  without  realizing  its  cause.  Henderson  then 
returned  or  sent  an  agent,  stealing  the  repaired  underwear.  After  doing  so,  she  took  a 
stick,  measuring  a  track  left  by  the  victim's  bare  foot.  After  doing  so,  she  wrapped  the 
stick  in  the  stolen  garment  and  buried  it  at  the  foot  of  the  newest  grave  in  a  cemetery. 
Only  timely  intervention  by  a  more  powerful  conjurer  saved  Williams'  grandmother,  who 
quickly  lost  the  power  of  speech  and  the  ability  to  walk.53 

In  Williams'  account,  the  principle  of  contagion  was  represented  by  two  of  the 
items  used  in  the  spell,  the  underwear  and  the  stick.  The  garment,  which  had  once  been 


51M.  P.  Handy,  "Witchcraft  Among  the  Negroes,"  Appleton  's  Journal:  A 
Magazine  of  General  Literature  8  (1872):  666. 

52Steiner,  "Observations,"  177-180.  For  a  more  complete  explanation  for  the 
principles  of  sympathy  and  contagion,  see  James  G.  Frazer,  The  Golden  Bough:  A  Study 
in  Magic  and  Religion  (1922;  reprint,  New  York:  Macmillan,  1951),  12-52. 


S3 


Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  926-928. 


99 
in  intimate  contact  with  the  victim's  body,  provided  a  means  by  which  Henderson  could 
harm  her  from  a  distance.  The  stick  likewise  represented  Williams'  grandmother.  By 
being  used  to  measure  a  footprint  made  by  the  bare  foot  of  the  victim,  the  stick  came  to 
represent  the  everyday  activities  of  William's  grandmother.  Henderson's  possession  of 
the  underwear  and  stick,  however,  was  not  enough  to  bring  about  the  death  of  her  onetime 
friend.  On  the  contrary,  she  had  to  employ  sympathetic  magic  to  bring  about  the  desired 
result.  This  was  likewise  undertaken  in  more  than  one  step,  each  of  which  centered 
around  images  of  death.  When  Henderson  cut  the  coffin- shaped  piece  out  of  the 
underwear,  she  set  up  a  situation  in  which  the  victim  would  most  likely  sew  it  up.  By 
doing  so,  Williams'  grandmother  unwittingly  "closed"  her  own  coffin.  By  burying  the 
underwear  and  stick  in  a  grave,  Henderson  reinforced  the  sympathetic  power  of  death. 
Mrs.  Williams'  account  was  but  one  combination  of  contagion  and  sympathy  used  by 
conjurers.  Common  variations  were  those  in  which  charms  were  prepared  without 
utilizing  contagion  in  their  manufacture.  Nevertheless,  contagion  played  a  role  in  the 
means  of  affecting  victims.  In  such  cases,  conjurers  contrived  a  means  to  bring  their 
charms  into  contact  with  the  person  to  be  affected,  often  by  burying  them  along  a  route 
commonly  taken  by  the  victim.  Whatever  the  spell,  contagion  and  sympathy  always 
played  a  part  in  successful  hoodoo  spells  and  charms.54 

While  contagion  and  sympathy  were  the  primary  forces  in  the  performance  of 
individual  acts  of  conjure,  some  items  had  spirits  whose  alleged  power  extended  beyond 
these  principles.  In  the  Latin  cultural  zone,  Voodoo  conjurers  relied  heavily  on  their 
gods,  building  altars,  burning  candles,  and  making  sacrifices  to  them  based  on  their 


54 


Ibid. 


100 
personalities.  In  places  settled  by  the  English,  hoodooists  called  on  God  for  similar 
purposes,  and  sacrifices  were  far  from  unknown.  More  commonly  used,  particularly  in 
the  Anglo  lands,  were  powerful  spirits  which  inhabited  certain  items,  regardless  of  their 
sympathetic  value.  The  best  known  of  these  was  High  John  the  Conqueror  Root,  called 
the  "king  root  of  the  forest"  by  blacks.  Hoodoo  doctors  reportedly  used  it  for  a  wide 
variety  of  purposes,  ranging  from  winning  love  to  curing  diseases.55  One  author 
maintained  that  its  power  was  so  respected  that  believers  "quake  when  they  see  a  bit  of  it 
in  the  hand  of  anyone."56  Exceptionally  strong  spiritual  power  also  resided  in  certain 
bones  from  black  cats,  which  could  only  be  obtained  by  boiling  them  alive.  Once  the 
flesh  fell  from  the  bones,  the  ones  that  possessed  magic  power  would  rise  to  the  surface 
of  the  water.  By  placing  one  of  these  in  his  or  her  mouth,  a  conjurer  could  supposedly 
become  invisible.  Goopher  dust,  which  sympathetically  possessed  the  power  to  cause 
death,  could  also  be  employed  for  virtually  any  use  due  to  the  spirits  of  the  dead  who 
dwelt  within  it.  Samuel  Simeon  Andrews,  who  used  it  to  escape  slavery,  was  but  one 
example  of  a  man  who  looked  beyond  its  sympathetic  value.  Closely  related  to  these 
spirits  were  lucky  or  unlucky  days  and  numbers,  which  also  possessed  magical  properties 
for  reasons  independent  of  contagion  and  sympathy.  For  instance,  some  North  Carolina 
conjurers  believed  that  Friday  was  a  bad  day  to  begin  new  work.  Likewise,  Missouri 


55t 


For  thorough  investigations  of  John  the  Conqueror  and  its  origins,  see  Carolyn 
Morrow  Long,  "John  the  Conqueror:  From  Root-Charm  to  Commercial  Product," 
Pharmacy  in  History  39  (1997):  47-53;  Varro  E.  Tyler,  "The  Elusive  History  of  High 
John  the  Conqueror  Root,"  Pharmacy  in  History  33  (1991):  164-166;  Long,  Spiritual 
Merchants,  221-246.  According  to  Long,  the  plant  originally  gained  its  importance  as  a 
love  charm,  due  to  its  phallic  appearance.  Whatever  its  original  functions,  its  uses  had 
grown  more  diverse  by  the  late  nineteenth  century. 


56« 


Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology,"  Southern  Workman  28  (1899):  1 12 


101 
hoodoo  doctors  specified  certain  numbers  to  be  used  in  spells  and  charms,  which  would 
help  insure  their  success.  According  to  King  Alexander,  three  and  seven  were  good 
numbers  to  conjure  with,  but  nine  and  five  were  better.  The  best  number  for  hoodooing, 
however,  was  four  times  four  or  four  times  four  times  four.  In  contrast,  ten  was  an 
unlucky  number,  and  conjurers  carefully  avoided  it.  Like  lucky  numbers,  the  color  red 
carried  special  weight  in  the  spirit  world.  Conjurers  throughout  the  South  relied  on  it  in 
the  manufacture  of  charms  for  both  good  and  evil  results.57 

Though  the  theory  and  practice  of  hoodoo  were  very  similar  in  both  cultural 
zones,  differences  sometimes  arose.  The  most  notable  of  these  appeared  in  the  choices  of 
magical  elements  used  in  the  manufacture  of  charms.  For  instance,  New  Orleans 
hoodooists'  use  of  altars,  statues  of  saints,  and  offerings  to  appeal  to  gods  were  practically 
unknown  outside  of  the  Latin  area.  Meanwhile,  goopher  dust  appeared  far  more 
frequently  in  the  Anglo  area.  Other  items  were  also  rare  outside  of  one  or  the  other 
cultural  area.  Two  such  were  beef  tongues,  which  New  Orleans'  conjurers  often 
employed  in  court  case  spells,  and  conjure  bottles,  which  commonly  took  the  place  of 
conjure  bags  in  the  Anglo  zone.  Nevertheless,  many  items  were  popular  in  both  cultural 
areas.  The  best  examples  of  such  materials  were  like  High  John  the  Conqueror  Root  and 


"Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  923-929;  "Folk-Lore  and 
Ethnology,"  28  (1899):  1 12;  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  113,  174;  Joseph  A.  Haskell, 
"Sacrificial  Offerings  among  North  Carolina  Negroes,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-lore  4 
(1891):  267;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  231;  "Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology,"  28 
(1899):  112;  "Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology"  Southern  Workman  28  (1899):  315. 


102 
black  cat  bones,  which  were  respected  throughout  the  South  by  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century.58 

Whatever  their  relationship  to  the  divine  or  the  depth  of  their  knowledge,  no 
conjurer  would  be  successful  without  a  reputation.  Throughout  the  American  South, 
many  African- Americans  viewed  hoodoo  doctors  with  great  trepidation,  springing  from 
their  fear  of  conjurers'  ability  to  lay  "tricks"  or  "hexes"  against  their  victims.  It  was  this 
very  dread,  though,  that  won  them  many  of  their  clients.  For  example,  when  struck  with 
unusual  illnesses,  many  African- Americans  believed  that  enemy  hoodooists  were  to 
blame.  The  remedy  was  to  consult  conjurers  whose  power  surpassed  that  of  those  who 
wrought  the  initial  maladies.  Likewise,  hoodooists  were  sometimes  able  to  overcome 
cruel  slave  masters  or  employers.  Such  power,  which  could  defeat  evil  magicians  and 
undermine  the  strength  of  the  white  ruling  class,  was  to  be  feared.  At  the  same  time, 
many  turned  to  hoodoo  doctors  in  the  hope  of  creating  positive  circumstances,  most 
commonly  in  matters  of  love  or  money.  Ultimately,  this  blend  of  fear  and  hope  did  not 
spring  fully-formed  from  the  supernatural  sources  of  conjurers'  power.  Instead,  it  had  to 
be  built  using  primarily  word  of  mouth.  Failure  to  build  a  reputation  could  result  in 
situations  similar  to  one  described  by  Cornelia  Robinson,  a  former  Alabama  slave. 
Speaking  of  her  old  plantation,  she  said,  "Us  had  a  ol'  quack  herb  doctor  on  de  place. 
Some  bad  boys  went  up  to  his  house  one  night  an'  poured  a  whole  lot  of  de  medicine 


58"Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology,"  28  (1899):  1 12;  "Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology," 
Southern  Workman  24  (1893):  155;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  220-221;  Tallant,  Voodoo 
in  New  Orleans,  24-32;  Lafcadio  Hearn,  "New  Orleans  Superstitions,"  Harper's  Weekly 
Magazine  30  (1885):  843;  M.  P.  Handy,  "Witchcraft  Among  the  Negroes,"  666-667. 


103 
down  him.  An  honey,  dat  ol'  man  died  de  next  day."59  At  the  very  least,  conjurers  would 
lose  business  and  thus,  temporal  power.  On  the  other  hand,  highly  respected  hoodooists 
could  hope  for  a  career  like  that  of  Monroe  King,  who  did  not  have  to  work,  since  those 
who  lived  in  his  vicinity  "useta  give  him  chickens  an'  things  so's  he  wouldn't  conjure 


'em."60 


For  a  conjurer,  there  was  no  substitute  for  successful  displays  of  his  or  her  reputed 
powers.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  herbs  was  one  way  to  make  success 
more  likely,  which  was  particularly  effective  in  cases  of  physical  illness.  Another  way 
was  to  give  commonsense  advice  to  those  who  sought  their  aid.  According  to  Newbell 
Niles  Puckett,  who  studied  the  subject  in  the  early  twentieth  century,  conjurers  frequently 
supplemented  their  magic  with  useful  counsel.  Advice  was  especially  helpful  in  matters 
of  the  heart.  One  New  Orleans  hoodooist  sold  a  powder  to  a  lovelorn  male  client, 
instructing  him  to  sprinkle  it  upon  everything  he  gave  to  the  woman  with  whom  he  was 
infatuated.  The  objects  upon  which  he  was  to  sprinkle  the  powder,  however,  were  to  be 
frequent  gifts  of  the  woman's  favorite  things.  Throughout  the  courtship,  the  man  was  to 
never  quarrel  with  her  or  show  jealousy.  The  two  were  married  within  a  few  months. 
According  to  Puckett  a  conjure  woman  from  Algiers,  Louisiana,  had  a  client  who  wanted 
to  stop  her  husband  from  arguing  with  her.  The  hoodooist  gave  her  a  bottle  of 


59Cornelia  Robinson,  interview  by  Preston  Klein  (Opelika,  AL,  1937),  The 
American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.  (Westport: 
Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1972),  vol.  6,  331. 

^Silvia  Witherspoon,  "Foots  Gets  Tired  from  Choppin'  Cotton,"  interview  by 
Susie  R.  O'Brien  and  John  Morgan  Smith  (AL,  June  25,  1937),  The  American  Slave:  A 
Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.  (Westport:  Greenwood  Publishing 
Company,  1972),  vol.  6,  431. 


104 
"medicine,"  with  which  she  was  to  fill  her  mouth  whenever  her  husband  showed  signs  of 
anger.  Moreover,  she  was  to  hold  the  formula  in  her  mouth  until  he  calmed  down,  upon 
which  she  should  swallow  it  and  kiss  her  husband.  Puckett  claimed  that  this  spell  worked 
so  well  that  many  other  women  soon  appeared  for  the  same  formula.61 

Even  when  hoodoo  failed,  a  clever  doctor  could  blame  its  failure  on  the  client, 
asserting  that  he  or  she  did  not  obey  instructions.  Such  was  the  case  in  one  story  told 
about  John,  the  antebellum  black  folk  hero.  According  to  the  story,  John  approached  a 
conjure  man  in  order  to  buy  a  charm  to  let  him  "cuss  his  master."62  The  hoodooist  gave 
him  a  charm  to  carry  in  his  pocket,  telling  him  to  keep  his  hand  on  it.  John  tried  the 
charm,  only  to  receive  a  severe  whipping  from  the  overseer.  When  he  complained  to  the 
conjurer,  the  hoodooist  replied,  "I  gi'  you  a  runnin'  han'.  Why  didn't  yer  run?"63 
Another  readily  applicable  way  of  turning  back  blame  for  failure  was  to  accuse  the  client 
of  lacking  the  necessary  faith  in  the  conjurer's  powers.  With  each  successful  application 
of  magic,  people's  confidence  in  individual  conjurers  would  grow,  increasing  the 
likelihood  that  their  treatments  would  succeed  in  the  minds  of  their  clients.64 

While  conjurers'  reputation  depended  heavily  on  the  effectiveness  of  their  spells 
and  charms,  hoodoo  doctors  frequently  had  to  compete  with  others  of  the  same 
profession.  To  build  their  customer  base,  they  played  on  their  clients'  intertwined  fears 


61Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  207-210. 

62Portia  Smiley,  "Folk-lore  from  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  and 
Florida,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-lore  32  (1919):  365. 

63Smiley,  365. 


"Smiley,  365;  Daniel  Davis,  252. 


105 
and  hopes.  Once  again,  though,  a  mixture  of  regional  differences  and  commonalities  was 
evident.  In  Latin  areas,  hoodooists  frequently  had  a  guaranteed  reputation  because  of 
their  positions  as  leaders.  Marie  Laveau  and  the  other  Voodoo  queens,  who  dealt  directly 
with  the  divine,  ranked  highly  among  pious  folk.  To  the  average  believer,  such  a  person 
had  a  much  better  chance  at  performing  successful  magic  than  a  mere  layperson. 
Conjurers  from  the  Anglo  zone  lacked  a  specifically  African- American  faith  from  which 
to  obtain  temporal  power.  Nevertheless,  some  conjurers  used  positions  as  Christian 
ministers  to  build  their  reputation.  As  was  the  case  with  Voodoo  queens,  they  relied  on 
their  reputation  for  having  closer-than-average  relationship  with  the  divine  to  spur  their 
business.  Such  was  the  case  of  "Uncle"  Aaron,  an  African- American  preacher  from 
Virginia.  In  addition  to  teaching  his  congregation  from  the  pulpit,  he  was  feared  as  a 
conjurer  throughout  the  community.  Even  in  places  where  Voodoo  prevailed  among 
conjurers,  hoodoo  doctors  sometimes  filled  the  role  of  Christian  ministers.  A  Missouri 
conjurer,  named  Alexander,  encountered  by  Mary  Owen  claimed  to  be  "king"  of  the 
African  Methodist  Church  of  which  he  was  a  member.65 

When  a  hoodooist  failed  to  obtain  religious  office,  he  or  she  had  to  turn  to  other 
methods  of  building  a  reputation.  One  of  the  easiest  ways  to  do  so  was  by  creating  a  title, 
designed  to  impress  those  with  whom  they  dealt.  Male  hoodooists,  in  particular,  were 
fond  of  this  method.  Such  was  the  case  with  Owen's  Alexander,  who  insisted  on  being 
called  "King"  Alexander.  Others  used  names  bearing  a  specifically  religious  connotation, 
even  when  they  held  no  office  to  warrant  them.  One  example  of  this  practice  was  "the 


65Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  38-58;  Livermore,  254-258;  Mary  Owen,  "Among 
the  Voodoos,"  240,  24;  Hearn,  "Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  726-727. 


106 
Rev.  Mr.  H.,"  who  served  a  Virginian  clientele  during  the  mid-  to  late  nineteenth  century. 
By  far  the  most  commonly  used  sobriquet  was  the  title  "doctor,"  adopted  by  hoodooists 
throughout  the  South.  One  of  the  first  to  do  so  was  "Doctor  Hercules,"  an  eighteenth- 
century  Georgia  slave.  Another  early  practitioner  to  call  himself  a  doctor  was  Dr.  John 
Bayou  of  New  Orleans.  By  the  late  nineteenth  century,  the  practice  was  widespread.  In 
1898,  Virginian  Daniel  Webster  Davis  wrote  of  a  "doctor"  he  had  known  "many  years 
before,"  who  used  the  initials  "h.p."  after  his  name,  which  he  intended  as  an  abbreviation 
for  "homeopath."66 

Conjurers  living  in  the  Anglo  cultural  area  frequently  added  the  name  of  a  totemic 
animal  to  their  title,  a  practice  which  was  particularly  common  in  the  Sea  Islands. 
Moreover,  the  animals  chosen  were  usually  birds  or  insects,  picked  for  the  feeling  of 
power  or  dread  they  inspired.  Dr.  Buzzard  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  was,  without 
doubt,  the  most  famous  to  do  so.  An  actual  occurrence,  when  a  group  of  fishermen  died 
at  sea,  was  his  inspiration.  The  boat  in  which  they  had  set  out  was  eventually  found. 
Their  bodies  were  still  inside,  being  eaten  by  a  group  of  buzzards.  Another  well-known 
Sea  Island  conjurer  went  by  the  name,  "Dr.  Bug,"  but  in  reputation,  he  remained  a  distant 
second  to  the  fearsome  Dr.  Buzzard.  Not  all  who  used  titles  were  men.  Ida  Carter,  better 
known  as  "Seven  Sisters,"  was  an  example.  Still,  the  practice  was  unusual  among 
women,  who  typically  kept  their  original  names,  without  exalted  sobriquets.  Marie 
Laveau  and  other  Voodoo  queens,  such  as  Sanite  Dede,  Marie  Saloppe,  and  Malvina 


66Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  38-58;  Livermore,  254-258;  Mary  Owen,  "Among 
the  Voodoos,"  230-248;  Gomez,  284-285;  R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30;  Hearn,  "Last  of  the 
Voudoos,"  726-727;  Carmer,  215-222;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  9-47;  Daniel 
Davis,  251. 


107 
Latour,  and  Aunt  Zippy  Tull  of  Maryland  were  but  a  few  examples  of  highly  successful 
conjure  women  who  saw  no  need  to  resort  to  titles.67 

Another  means  of  fostering  fearful  awe  was  by  setting  oneself  apart  from  the  rest 
of  the  black  community,  creating  an  air  of  mystery,  which  was  a  tactic  used  heavily  by 
hoodooists  in  the  Anglo  zone.  Conjurers  did  not  mingle  freely  with  their  fellow  African- 
Americans  and  actively  took  steps  to  dissuade  others  from  approaching  them  without 
reason.  One  common  way  of  doing  so  was  by  adopting  bizarre  dress.  Most  accounts  of 
nineteenth-century  Anglo-area  conjurers  describe  their  unusual  raiments.  Dr.  Buzzard 
reportedly  limited  his  strange  dress  to  a  pair  of  purple-shaded  glasses.  In  contrast,  one  of 
the  more  elaborate  dressers  was  the  Tennessee  conjurer  described  by  Samuel  Taylor,  who 
arrayed  himself  in  a  multicolored  coats  and  chains.  Rev.  Mr.  H.  of  Virginia  "had  his  hair 
braided  like  a  woman,  and  rings  in  his  ears."68  In  the  lands  around  New  Orleans,  where 
Voodoo  queens  and  doctors  were  key  figures  in  the  religious  life  of  slaves  and  later  free 
blacks,  they  felt  no  need  for  unusual  everyday  dress.  Their  dealings  with  the  gods  made 
them  mysterious  enough.  Nevertheless,  before  the  Civil  War,  major  figures  in  New 
Orleans  Voodoo  were  invariably  free  people  of  color,  effectively  setting  them  apart  from 
the  average  African- American.  A  tendency  for  conjurers  to  be  free  was  present  to  a  lesser 
degree  throughout  the  Latin  antebellum  South.  "Aunt"  Mymee  Whitehead  of  Missouri, 
for  example,  was  a  free  woman  of  color  who  was  also  a  powerful  conjurer.  In  Anglo 
lands,  conjurers  were  less  likely  to  be  free.  Instead,  during  slave  days,  each  large 


67McTeer,  Fifty  Years  as  a  Lowcountry  Witch  Doctor,  21-30;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo- 
Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  5-6,  891-905. 

68R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A,  40. 


108 
plantation  was  likely  to  have  a  resident  hoodooist  or  two.  Following  emancipation, 
however,  conjurers  actively  sought  isolation  from  their  communities.  Patrons  could  only 
reach  the  island  home  of  Dr.  Buzzard  by  boat.  Moreover,  his  efforts  at  generating  fear 
were  so  successful  that  some  believed  that  the  necessary  boat  would  appear  on  its  own, 
rowed  by  buzzards.  If  someone  other  than  the  one  for  whom  it  was  intended  got  on 
board,  the  buzzards  would  drown  the  interloper.  Other  conjurers  simply  traveled  through 
different  communities,  which  had  the  added  benefits  of  increasing  their  potential  clientele 
and  limiting  the  impact  of  failure.  According  to  an  anonymous  1 878  contributor  to 
Southern  Workman,  traveling  conjurers  were  the  norm  in  the  postwar  years.  In  the  1890s, 
Samuel  Taylor's  conjurer  combined  monthly  tours  with  bizarre  dress  to  spread  his 
influence  over  a  substantial  portion  of  his  home  state.  Even  conjurers  in  the  Latin  zone 
sometimes  chose  to  travel.  King  Alexander  did  so.  As  Owen  stated,  this  was  to  make, 
"his  movements  as  mysterious  as  possible."69 

Even  without  the  benefits  of  religious  office,  fancy  titles,  and  personal  mystery, 
conjurers  throughout  the  South  had  yet  another  means  to  build  their  reputation.  In  a  time 
when  hoodoo  doctors  relied  on  word  of  mouth,  cleverly-handled  interaction  with  clients 
could  make  or  break  careers.  Successful  conjurers  used  their  dealings  with  clients  to 
further  build  their  fearsome  reputations.  A  few  conjurers  did  so  even  before  examining 
individual  clients,  most  commonly  by  knowing  the  names  of  those  who  approached  them 
before  the  client  spoke.  Those  who  remembered  Zippy  Tull  frequently  cited  her  ability  to 
do  so.  It  was  particularly  easy  to  create  fear  during  the  diagnosis  phase,  however.  In  a 


69Taylor,  77-80;  R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30;  Herron,  251-252;  Bruce,  1 1 1-125;  Bacon, 
193-194,  209-21 1;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  891-905;  W.  and 
C,  38;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  242-244,  quoted  244. 


109 
typical  case  described  by  Daniel  Webster  Davis,  a  woman,  feeling  physical  pains  she  had 
not  felt  before,  called  on  a  conjure  doctor  when  ordinary  remedies  failed.  The  conjurer, 
seeking  to  convince  the  sufferer  of  the  supernatural  source  of  the  disorder,  arrived  at 
night.  After  examining  the  patient  for  a  few  moments,  the  hoodooist  pronounced,  "Yes 
hunny,  youse  bin  tricked. . . .  Youse  got  er  in'my."70  Further  explanation  outlined  that  the 
enemy  was  a  rival  for  her  husband's  affections,  who  was  using  magic  to  kill  her.  The 
only  remedy  was  stronger  magic,  which  of  course,  the  conjurer  could  supply.  In  cases 
like  the  one  described  by  Davis,  believers  feared  for  their  life.  Even  those  with  a  more 
scientific  inclination  might  decide  that  it  was  better  to  be  safe  than  sorry.  Furthermore, 
the  strength  of  faith  generated  by  such  dire  pronouncements  made  it  more  likely  that 
victims  would  either  believe  themselves  cured  following  treatment  or  accept  that  their 
enemies'  magic  was  simply  too  strong  or  had  gone  too  long  untreated  in  cases  of  failure. 
The  fear  and  hope  associated  with  conjurers  could  be  further  heightened  during  the  curing 
phase.  One  way  of  doing  so  was  the  finding  of  the  tricks,  whose  presence  conjurers  could 
easily  assure  by  sleight  of  hand  or  a  previous  visit  to  the  spot  where  the  charm  was  to  be 
found.  Likewise,  when  the  diagnosis  was  that  reptiles  or  other  living  creatures  were 
inhabiting  the  afflicted,  hoodoo  doctors  frequently  produced  the  culprits,  again, 
presumably  by  trickery.  In  one  case,  a  conjure  doctor  supposedly  induced  a  woman  to 
expel  a  scorpion  from  her  mouth.  Another  claimed  that  following  the  ministrations  of  a 
hoodoo  doctor,  that  the  writer's  sick  grandmother  was  cured  when  she  succeeded  in 
drawing  a  lizard  from  her  leg  and  a  spool  of  thread  from  her  right  arm.  Even  by  claiming 
that  a  turned-back  spell  would  kill  the  one  who  cast  it,  conjurers  could  build  their 


70 


Daniel  Davis,  251. 


110 
reputation.  If  someone  in  the  locality  happened  to  die  shortly  after  a  conjurer  announced 

the  doom  of  a  vaguely-described  enemy,  he  or  she  would  automatically  become  a  suspect 

in  the  affliction  of  the  client.  If  no  one  died  nearby,  observers  could  assume  that  the 

antagonist  must  have  been  from  outside  the  immediate  vicinity.71 

Conjurers  throughout  the  South  were  both  mystical  and  pragmatic.  Despite 

notable  regional  distinctions,  a  mixture  of  supernaturalism  and  marketing  was  constantly 

in  evidence.  Still,  while  building  reputations  relied  heavily  upon  manipulating  the 

perceptions  of  potential  clients,  frequently  descending  into  outright  deception,  one  must 

not  conclude  that  conjure  was  mere  chicanery.  Some  were  doubtless  frauds.  For  most, 

though,  their  craft  was  genuine.  Belief  in  their  powers  was  more  important  than  the 

presence  or  absence  of  the  spiritual  forces  that  reputedly  served  as  the  foundations  of  their 

skills,  taught  them  to  conjure,  and  operated  in  the  making  of  charms  and  casting  of  spells. 

As  William  Adams  put  it,  "Thar  'tis  'gain,  faith.  Dat  am  w'at  counts."72  Just  as  it  gave 

conjurers  temporal  power  in  the  black  community,  so  it  gave  them  the  ability  to  perform 

miraculous  cures,  lay  curses  on  enemies,  foretell  the  future,  and  otherwise  fulfill  the 

wishes  of  their  clients.  Where  did  such  faith  originate?  The  answer  lies  in  the  mixing  of 

African,  European,  and  Native  American  magical  beliefs. 


71Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  923-929;  Daniel  Davis,  251- 
252;  R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30. 

72 Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  19. 


CHAPTER  3 

VODU  AND  MINKISI: 

THE  AFRICAN  ROOTS  OF  BLACK  AMERICAN  MAGIC 

During  the  first  half  of  the  twentieth  century,  scholars  debated  the  degree  to  which 
African  beliefs  and  practices  survived  in  the  New  World.  Over  time,  those  arguing  in 
favor  of  substantial  African  survivals  prevailed.1  In  light  of  this  current  scholarly 
consensus,  it  is  surprising  that  historians  have  done  little  to  systematically  trace  conjure's 
multiple  African  roots.2  Nevertheless,  its  transformation  from  African  religion  to 
American  magic  made  it  into  a  microcosm  of  the  African- American  experience  which 
combined  elements  of  loss  with  a  persistent  drive  to  survive  in  the  face  of  persecution. 
Nineteenth-century  hoodoo  was  a  result  of  creolization  and  syncretism,  the  mixing  of 
multiple  African,  European,  and  Native  American  cultures,  which  together  resulted  in  a 
form  of  magic  unique  to  the  American  South.  Ultimately,  however,  the  origins  of  hoodoo 
lie  in  the  traditional  religious  beliefs  of  the  land  from  which  the  slaves'  ancestors  hailed. 

The  roots  of  conjure  extend  deep  into  sub-Saharan  Africa,  where  magic  had  long 
been  a  feature  of  everyday  life  throughout  most  of  the  region.  Moreover,  no  one  tribe  or 


See  Herskovits,  The  Myth  of  the  Negro  Past. 

2A  rare  exception  to  this  rule  has  been  Michael  Farris  Thompson,  whose  excellent 
book,  Flash  of  the  Spirit,  examines  the  links  between  African- American  art  and 
philosophy  and  their  counterparts  among  diverse  African  peoples.  Just  as  important, 
Michael  Gomez  has  furthered  historians'  understanding  of  the  impacts  of  distinct  African 
religions  on  different  parts  of  the  South  through  his  book,  Exchanging  Our  Country 
Marks. 

Ill 


112 
people  group  can  claim  to  be  the  origin  of  hoodoo.3  Instead,  certain  groups  played  greater 
or  lesser  roles  depending  heavily  on  the  demographics  of  slave  importation  into  particular 
areas.  As  with  the  performance  and  marketing  of  conjure,  African  influences  on  hoodoo 
once  more  fell  into  the  two  primary  cultural  zones,  roughly  corresponding  to  the  distinct 
areas  settled  by  Latin  and  Anglo  colonists.  In  the  lands  settled  by  the  French  and 
Spanish,  the  Fon,  Yoruba,  Ewe,  and  Mande  speakers  of  northern  West  Africa  laid  the 
groundwork,  partially  through  their  heavy  importation  during  the  colonial  period.  In 
Louisiana,  in  particular,  these  and  closely  related  peoples  made  up  more  than  half  of  all 
Africans  brought  into  the  area.  During  the  early  republican  and  antebellum  periods,  the 
number  of  slaves  from  northern  West  Africa  drastically  declined.  West  Central  Africans 
replaced  them,  the  largest  number  of  whom  hailed  from  the  Kongo  kingdom.  Despite  the 
shift  in  importation  patterns,  the  early  presence  of  slaves  from  the  closely  related  cultures 
of  the  Fon,  Ewe,  and  Yoruba  and  the  more  distinct  Mande  defined  the  area's  magical 
practices.  Later  arrivals  modified  but  could  not  replace  them.  Moreover,  in  both  French 
Louisiana  and  Spanish  Florida,  brief  spurts  of  immigration  from  the  Caribbean  bolstered 
the  influence  of  the  earlier  groups.  In  Louisiana,  these  were  Haitian  refugees  fleeing 
revolution.  The  case  in  Florida  was  even  more  pronounced.  The  late  nineteenth-century 
arrival  of  Afro-Cubans  seeking  economic  opportunity  not  only  bolstered  existing  beliefs, 
but  they  also  created  large  black  communities  in  areas  where  none  had  existed  before.4 


3The  word  "tribe"  has  fallen  from  favor  among  many  American  historians,  who 
prefer  to  use  "ethnic  groups"  or  similar  terms  to  refer  to  different  people  groups  of  Africa. 
Ultimately,  however,  this  practice  reflects  African- American  and  American  ideals  of 
political  correctness,  which  those  who  advocate  them  have  attempted  to  foist  on  Africans, 
who  typically  prefer  to  continue  to  use  the  traditional  "tribe." 

4Gomez,  38-58,  114-153,  150. 


113 
While  West  Central  Africans  proved  only  a  secondary  influence  in  the  Latin  area, 
they  were  the  primary  influence  on  the  magic  of  the  Anglo  area,  particularly  in  coastal 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  where  they  made  up  more  than  half  of  all  imports 
throughout  the  period  when  slavery  was  legal.  Once  again,  the  Kongo  people  were  the 
largest  contingent  among  the  unwilling  arrivals  from  West  Central  Africa.  Also,  as  in 
Louisiana,  the  Mande  were  a  significant,  though  minority,  presence  in  the  area.  Although 
the  chief  features  of  conjure  derived  from  the  Fon-Ewe-Yoruba  in  the  Latin  area,  Kongo 
in  the  lands  settled  by  the  English,  and  Mande  in  both,  other  groups,  including  the  Igbo, 
Akan,  and  Ga-Dangme,  played  important  roles  in  the  creation  of  African- American 
conjure,  especially  in  particular  aspects  of  hoodoo.5 

The  influence  of  specific  African  cultures  is  readily  apparent  in  the  unique  terms 
often  applied  to  conjure.  For  instance,  "Voodoo"  derived  from  the  Fon  and  Ewe  term, 
"vodu,"  meaning  "god"  or  "worship  or  fear  of  the  gods."  "Hoodoo,"  originally  used  in 
the  Latin  area  to  identify  conjure,  most  likely  derived  from  "Voodoo,"  though  Zora  Neale 
Hurston  claimed  that  it  was  a  corruption  of  "juju,"  another  West  African  term,  meaning 
"magic"  or  "charm."6  Likewise,  the  Louisiana  terms  "gris-gris,"  "zinzin,"  and 
"wanga,"denoting  various  types  of  spells  and  charms,  likewise  derive  from  West  African 
terms.  "Gris-gris,"  a  general  term  for  magic,  came  from  the  Mandingo  tribe,  a  subgroup 
of  Mande  speakers,  who  used  magical  items  know  as  "gerregerys"  or  "gregory  bags,"  to 
harm  others.  Mande-speaking  members  of  the  Bambara  tribe  introduced  the  term, 


5Ibid. 


6Likewise,  Missouri's  "noodoo"  almost  certainly  underwent  a  similar 
development  to  "hoodoo." 


114 
"zinzin,"  which  referred  to  positive  charms  designed  to  confer  strength  or  power  on  their 
possessors.7  "Wanga,"  denoting  malevolent  magic  and  charms,  and  the  derived  terms 
"wangateur"  and  "wangateuse"  were  likewise  of  Mande  origin.  "Toby,"  a  term  used 
primarily  but  not  exclusively  for  positive  charms,  reflected  the  early  republican  and 
antebellum  influx  of  West  Central  African  Kongos,  whose  "tobe"  charms  brought  good 
luck  to  their  owners.  In  Florida,  the  titles  "papa-loi"  and  "mama-loi,"  used  for  Nanigo 
priests  and  priestesses,  were  the  African- American  creolizations  of  the  Yoruba  word  for  a 
diviner-herbalist,  "babalawo."  Conjure  terminology  with  African  origins  was  rare  outside 
of  the  Latin  cultural  area.  "Goopher,"  used  in  such  combinations  as  "goopher  doctor"  or 
"goopher  dust,"  was  an  exception  to  the  rule.  Employed  in  coastal  Georgia  and  the 
Carolinas  to  designate  items  derived  from  the  dead  or  persons  dealing  with  them,  it  most 
likely  developed  from  the  Kongo  word  "kufwa,"  meaning  "to  die."  "Mojo,"  and  its 
variant  "Joe  Moe,"  was  a  Kongo-derived  term  found  in  both  cultural  zones  which 
described  magic  and  charms  usually  designed  for  positive  ends.8  In  the  Kongo  kingdom, 
"mooyo"  referred  to  spirits  which  dwelt  within  magical  charms,  a  term  easily  transferred 
to  the  spirits'  dwelling  place.9 


7"Zinzin"  was  never  a  common  term.  It  is  virtually  unknown  today. 

8For  the  use  of  the  "Joe  Moe"  variant,  see  John  Daniels,  interview  by  B.  N.  (NC), 
The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport, 
CT:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1971),  vol.  14,  231.  In  this  case,  the  Joe  Moe  was 
used  for  a  malevolent  purpose. 

9A.  B.  Ellis,  "On  Vodu  Worship,"  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  38  (1891):  651- 
663;  Pitkin,  167;  Porteous,  48-63;  Nicholas  Owen,  Journal  of  a  Slave  Dealer:  A  View  of 
Some  Remarkable  Axcedents  in  the  Life  ofNics.  Owen  on  the  Coast  of  Africa  and 
America  from  the  Year  1746  to  the  Year  1757,  edited  and  with  and  Introduction  by 
Eveline  Martin  (London:  George  Routledge  and  Sons,  Ltd.,  1930),  49-50;  Robert  Farris 
Thompson,  Flash  of  the  Spirit:  African  and  Afro-American  Art  and  Philosophy  (New 


115 
More  than  simply  words  survived  the  Middle  Passage,  however.  In  the  Latin  area, 
African  deities  continued  to  play  a  role  in  the  lives  of  blacks.  According  to  Kofi  Asare 
Opoku,  author  of  West  African  Traditional  Religions,  traditional  West  African  gods  and 
spirits  were  of  six  sorts.  First,  there  was  a  unique  being,  often  far  separated  from 
humanity,  who  gave  life  and  power  to  all  other  beings,  including  lesser  gods  and  spirits. 
Among  Fon  speakers,  this  being  was  known  as  Mawu-Lisa,  an  androgynous  god/goddess 
incarnate  in  the  moon  and  sun,  respectively.  Among  Yoruba  speakers,  Olorun  filled  the 
role  of  supreme  being.  Virtually  every  other  West  African  language  and  tribe  had  such  a 
god.  While  Africans  prayed  to  these  supreme  beings,  they  rarely  offered  sacrifices  or 
otherwise  sought  to  win  their  favor.  Beings  so  perfect  had  no  need  of  such  mundane  acts 
of  service.  The  next  tier  in  the  spiritual  hierarchy  was  filled  with  ancestral  spirits  that 
West  Africans  believed  existed  alongside  their  living  descendants  and  were  therefore 
honored  by  offerings  of  food,  celebrations,  and  sometimes  deification.  Next  followed  a 
variety  of  lesser  deities,  who,  unlike  the  supreme  being,  could  be  relied  upon  to  take 
direct  action  in  the  lives  of  their  followers,  for  good  or  ill.  Each  god  and  goddess  played 
a  particular  role.  Among  the  Fon  speakers  of  Dahomey,  Da,  chief  of  the  earth  deities, 
was  a  snake  god,  worshiped  in  the  form  of  sacred  pythons.10  An  important  god  of  the  Fon 
and  Ewe,  Legba,  served  as  a  divine  linguist,  interpreting  the  decrees  of  the  gods  to 
mortals,  and  trickster.  Da  was  primarily  confined  to  Fon  speakers,  but  Legba-like  gods 
appeared  in  most  West  African  pantheons.  For  instance,  among  the  Yoruba,  Elegba  or 


York:  Random  House,  1983),  105,  117,  166-167;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  19;  Mary  Owen, 
"Among  the  Voodoos,"  241;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  11,17, 
275,  278,  280-281,  284,  308,  310,  314,  336,  337,  Gomez,  50-56. 

10Da  was  also  recognized  as  an  early  ancestor  of  the  Dahomey  kings. 


116 
Eshu  fulfilled  the  same  role.  Following  the  lesser  deities,  were  totemic  animals  and 
plants  which  were  important  to  particular  individuals,  families,  and  tribes.  Usually,  these 
were  reputed  to  have  had  a  prominent  place  in  the  lives  of  their  forebears.  Two  final 
types  of  spiritual  beings  were  closely  associated  with  magic.  Occupying  the  fifth  level  of 
the  spiritual  hierarchy  were  beings  who  assisted  sorcerers  in  the  performance  of  both 
good  and  evil  spells.  One  of  the  more  well  known  of  these  was  Sasabonsum,  a 
cannibalistic  spirit  who  aided  Tshi-speaking  witches  in  working  evil.  The  sixth  tier  was 
filled  by  the  indwelling  spirits  of  the  charms  made  by  workers  of  magic." 

Kongolese  traditional  religion  had  a  similar  hierarchy.  At  the  top  was  Nzambi, 
the  supreme  being.  Below  Nzambi  were  four  types  of  spirits,  all  of  which  had  once  been 
living  humans,  which  together  roughly  corresponded  to  the  second  tier  of  northern  West 
African  belief.  "Bakulu,"  meaning  "ancestors,"  were  the  most  important  type  of  spirit 
and  were  honored  in  various  ceremonies  and  sacrifices  performed  by  the  heads  of  clans, 
chiefs,  and  smiths.  Next  in  the  ranking  were  a  variety  of  gods  or  spirits,  called  "basimbi," 
who  occupied  specific  territories,  localities,  villages,  and  even  physical  objects  such  as 
bridges,  bends  in  roads,  and  rivers.  Another  type  of  beings  were  known  as  "minkisi." 
They  occupied  charms  made  by  priests  and  magicians.  While  each  of  these  types  of 
beings  were  generally  benevolent,  a  final  group  of  spirits,  called  "min'kuyu,"  were 


"Harold  Courlander,  A  Treasury  of  African  Folklore:  The  Oral  Literature, 
Traditions,  Myths,  Legends,  Epics,  Tales,  Recollections,  Wisdom,  Sayings,  and  Humor  of 
Africa  (New  York:  Crown  Publishers,  1975),  159-160,  187-188;  Kofi  Asare  Opoku,  West 
African  Traditional  Religion  (Accra,  London,  et  ah  FEP  International  Private  Limited, 
1978),  9-10,  14-18;  A.  B.  Ellis,  The  Tshi-Speaking  Peoples  of  the  Gold  Coast  of  West 
Africa:  Their  Religion,  Manners,  Customs,  Laws,  Language,  Etc.  (London:  Chapman  and 
Hall,  1887),  34-38. 


117 
malevolent  ghosts.  In  life,  min'kuyu  had  been  witches,  who  were  refused  entrance  to  the 
dwelling  place  of  the  ancestors  in  death.12 

Blacks  did  not  leave  the  spiritual  hierarchies  of  Africa  behind  when  dragged  from 
their  homeland  by  slave  traders.  On  the  contrary,  elements  of  the  old  religions  survived 
in  the  American  South.  The  most  apparent  of  these  were  the  lesser  deities  of  the  Fon, 
Ewe,  and  Yoruba  that  survived  in  the  Latin  area  (see  Chart  1).  By  the  nineteenth  century, 
however,  these  lesser  deities  had  also  taken  over  the  role  of  magical  helpers,  which  were 
a  separate  class  in  Africa.  In  French-settled  areas,  the  gods  of  the  Fon  and  Ewe  speakers 
predominated.  As  in  northern  West  Africa,  the  serpent  god  ruled  the  pantheon.  Believers 
in  the  Fon-speaking  Kingdom  of  Dahomey,  worshiped  Da  as  a  sacred  python.  In  the 
American  South,  pythons  were  unobtainable,  forcing  substitutions  of  other  snakes. 
African- Americans  continued  to  worship  Da  in  the  area  around  New  Orleans,  where  he 
was  known  as  Blanc  Dani.  In  the  United  States,  the  Voodoo  queens  kept  the  snakes,  of 
indeterminate  species,  bringing  them  out  during  major  community  rituals,  signaling  a 
period  of  praise  to  and  possession  by  Blanc  Dani.  As  with  the  supreme  god  of  African 
beliefs,  believers  only  occasionally  utilized  the  serpent  god  in  magic.  He  was  too  exalted 
a  being.  This  was  not  true  of  the  other  deities  that  survived  in  New  Orleans.  Legba,  the 
second  most  powerful  god  of  the  Fon  and  Ewe,  was  always  available  to  those  who  wished 
to  call  on  him  for  conjure.  Moreover,  he  retained  his  African  role  as  the  linguist  of  the 
gods,  opening  lines  of  communication  to  a  variety  of  other  beings.  Early  in  major 
Voodoo  ceremonies,  believers  called  on  Papa  Lebat,  Liba,  or  LaBas,  the  New  Orleans 


12Wyatt  MacGaffey,  Religion  and  Society  in  Central  Africa:  The  BaKongo  of 
Central  Zaire  (Chicago  and  London:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1986),  63-89. 


118 
forms  of  Legba,  saying  "Bon  jour  Liba,  ouvert  la  porte;  Ouvert  la  porte,  Bon  jour  ma 
cousin;  Bon  jour  ma  cousin,  Bon  Jour  Liba."13  Two  of  the  gods  to  whom  Lebat  opened 
the  door  included  Monsieur  Assonquer  and  Monsieur  Agoussou,  the  gods  of  good  fortune 
and  love,  respectively.  Because  of  their  respective  functions,  these  two  were  particularly 
popular  amongst  believers.14 

The  survival  of  African  gods  in  New  Orleans  was  well  known,  but  they  also 
persisted  in  other  places  as  well.  In  Missouri,  the  serpent  god  Da  lived  on  in  the  form  of 
Grandfather  Rattlesnake,  whom  believers  honored  with  dances.  Florida's  Nafiigo 
believers  had  a  richer  pantheon,  drawn  primarily  from  the  gods  of  the  Yoruba.  Florida's 
blacks  had  no  snake  god,  but  they  retained  Obatala,  chief  of  the  Yoruban  gods.  Obatala 
was  the  most  powerful  spirit,  and  unlike  Blanc  Dani,  this  power  made  him  the  best  god  to 
call  upon  for  the  performance  of  spells.  Elegba,  a  trickster  and  phallic  god  among  the 
Yoruba  people,  became  an  evil  god  in  America.  For  this  reason,  he  was  especially  useful 
in  the  performance  of  evil  magic.  Shango,  god  of  thunder,  and  Yemaya,  goddess  of  air 
and  water,  were  two  other  prominent  gods  to  survive  from  Yoruba  belief.  Nanga,  an  evil 
spirit  in  Nanigo,  appears  to  have  been  a  rare  Kongo  contribution  to  the  pantheon.  In 
Kongo  belief,  Nanga  was  a  legendary  hero  who  led  his  people  on  a  great  migration  to  the 
present-day  home  of  the  Kongo  people.  In  contrast  to  the  Latin  areas,  the  lesser  gods  had 


13Pitkin,  195.  Translated,  the  chant  means,  "Good  day  Liba,  open  the  door;  Open 
the  door,  Good  day  my  cousin;  Good  day  my  cousin,  Good  day  Liba." 

14Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  3-96;  Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  99,  101,  135,  182, 
184,  257,  272,  311,  447,  453-456,  468;  Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Courlander,  A  Treasury 
of  African  Folklore,  159-160,  187-188;  Claude  F.  Jacobs  and  Andrew  J.  Kaslow,  The 
Spiritual  Churches  of  New  Orleans:  Origins,  Beliefs,  and  Rituals  of  an  African-American 
Religion  (Knoxville:  University  of  Tennessee  Press,  1991),  82-92. 


119 


largely  died  out  in  the  English-settled  lands  by  the  nineteenth  century.  Occasional 
sacrifices  to  bring  good  weather  or  prosperity  and  praying  to  rivers  before  baptisms  were 
two  rare  exceptions  to  the  rule.15 

Table  1:  African  Gods  in  America 


African- 

Location 

Function  in 

African 

Tribal 

Function 

American 

of 

Latin  Cultural 

Name(s) 

Origin 

Name(s) 

Worship 

Area 

Bon  Dieu  and 

Universal 

Equivalent  of 

Olorun, 

Yoruba, 

Equivalent  of 

other  names 

Christian  God, 

Mawu-Lisa, 

Fon,  Ewe, 

Christian  God, 

omnipotent  and 

Nzambi  and 

Mande, 

omnipotent  and 

omniscient, 

others 

Kongo  and 

omniscient,  creator 

creator 

others 

Monsieur 

Louisiana 

Chief  god, 

Darih-gbi,  Da 

Fon,  Ewe 

Chief  earth  god, 

Danny,  Blanc 

and 

worshiped  in 

python  god,  father 

Dani,  Grand 

Florida 

the  form  of  a 

of  gods,  early  ruler 

Zombie, 

snake,  god  of 

of  Dahomey 

Voodoo 

discord,  defeats 

Magnian 

enemies 

Papa  Lebat, 

Louisiana 

Trickster, 

Legba 

Fon,  Ewe 

Trickster,  linguist  of 

Liba,  LaBas 

doorkeeper, 
evil 

gods 

Monsieur 

Louisiana 

God  of  good 

Perhaps 

Fon 

Used  in  religious 

Assonquer 

fortune 

related  to 
"asson," 
meaning 
"rattle" 

rituals  to  summon 
gods 

Monsieur 

Louisiana 

God  of  love 

Agasu 

Fon 

Founder  of  the  royal 

Agoussou, 

line  of  Abomey 

Vert 

Agoussou 

Monsieur 

Louisiana 

God  of  death 

Takes  place  of 

Various 

Death 

d'Embarass 

several 
African  gods 

15A.  B.  Ellis,  The  Yoruba-Speaking  Peoples  of  the  Slave  Coast  of  West  Africa: 
Their  Religion,  Manners,  Customs,  Laws,  Language,  Etc.  (Chicago:  Benin  Press,  Ltd., 
1964),  34-124;  Murphy,  7-36;  Opoku,  54-90;  MacGaffey,  53,  59,  79,  Kennedy,  "Nanigo 
in  Florida,"  153-156;  Hauptmann,  197-200;  Georgia  Writer's  Project,  Savannah  Unit, 
113,125,145,  160,167. 


Table  1.     Continued 


120 


African- 
American 
Name(s) 

Location 

of 
Worship 

Function  in 

Latin  Cultural 

Area 

African 
Name(s) 

Tribal 
Origin 

Function 

Dambarra 
Soutons 

Louisiana 

Perhaps 
identical  with 
Danny 

See  above  for 
Danny 

See  above 
for  Danny 

See  above  for 
Danny 

Charlo 

Louisiana 

Child  god 

Unidentified 

Unidentified 

Unidentified 

Veriquite 

Louisiana 

Important  god 
with  many 
features, 
including 
causing  illness 

Unidentified 

Unidentified 

Unidentified 

Yon  Sue 

Louisiana 

Perhaps 
identical  with 
Agoussou  or 
Danny 

See  above  for 
Agoussou  or 
Danny 

See  above 
for 

Agoussou 
or  Danny 

See  above  for 
Agoussou  or  Danny 

Joe  Feraille 

Louisiana 

God  of  iron 

Ogun 

Yoruba 

God  of  iron  and  war 

Samunga 

Missouri 

Called  on  when 
gathering  mud 

Gounja(?) 

Khoisan(?) 

Moon  god 

Abasi 

Florida 

Supreme  being 

Ubasi 

Yoruba 

Supreme  Being 

Obatala 

Florida 

Chief  god,  most 
powerful  spirit 

Obatala 

Yoruba 

Chief  god 

Elegba 

Florida 

Evil  spirit 

Elegba  and 
Eshu 

Yoruba 

Trickster  and 
phallic  god 

Shango 

Florida 

Spirit  of  good 
and  evil, 
justice,  and 
thunder 

Shango 

Yoruba 

God  of  thunder 

Yemaya 

Florida 

Spirit  of  the  air 
and  sea 

Yemoja 

Yoruba 

Goddess  of  the 
Ogun  River,  wife  of 
Ogun 

Las  Jimaguas 

Florida 

Twin  spirits 

Ibeji,  Hoho, 
and  others 

Yoruba, 
Ewe,  and 
others 

Twin  gods 

Ecue 

Florida 

Son  of  Abasi, 
perhaps 
identical  to 
Elegba 

See  above  for 
Elegba 

See  above 
for  Elegba 

See  above  for 
Elegba 

121 


African- 
American 
Name(s) 


Table  1.     Continued 


Location 

of 
Worship 


Function  in 

Latin  Cultural 

Area 


African 
Name(s) 


Tribal 
Origin 


Function 


Mayunga 


Bilonga 


Florida 


Florida 


Malevolent 
spirit 


Unidentified        Unidentified     Unidentified 


Malevolent 
spirit 


Kongo 


N/A 


Perhaps 

related  to 

"bilongo," 

meaning 

"medicinal 

ingredients" 

SOURCES:  Compiled  from  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  3-96;  Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  99,  101,  135,  182, 
184,  257,  272,  311,  447, 453-456,  468;  Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos," 
238-242;  Cable,  "Creole  Slave  Songs,"  807-828;  Cable,  "The  Dance  in  Place  Congo,"  517-532; 
Courlander,  A  Treasury  of  African  Folklore,  159-160,  187-188;  Jacobs  and  Kaslow,  82-92;  A.  B.  Ellis,  The 
Ewe-Speaking  Peoples  of  the  Slave  Coast  of  West  Africa:  Their  Religion,  Manners,  Customs,  Laws, 
Languages,  &c  (London:  Chapman  and  Hall,  1890),  13-90;  Ellis,  The  Yoruba-Speaking  Peoples,  34-124; 
Murphy,  77;  Brandon,  Santeria;  Opoku,  54-90;  MacGaffey,  53,  59,  79;  Metraux,  28,  31,  100-119;  Rigaud, 
51-78;  Kennedy,  "Nafligo  in  Florida,"  153-156;  Hauptmann,  197-200. 


Though  the  combined  lesser  gods/magical  helpers  were  the  most  readily 
recognizable  survivals  of  African  religions,  did  not  occupy  the  only  tier  of  the  spiritual 
hierarchy  to  persist  in  the  American  South.  Blacks  also  brought  their  conceptions  of  the 
supreme  being  as  they  entered  lives  of  servitude.  In  the  Latin  area,  the  all-powerful  Bon 
Dieu  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo  filled  the  role  of  Mawu-Lisa  of  the  Fon  and  Ewe.  The 
absence  of  sacrifices  and  magic  in  the  worship  of  Bon  Dieu,  illustrates  the  general 
African  view  of  the  supreme  being  as  too  lofty  to  need  anything  humans  could  offer.  For 
the  same  reason,  Bon  Dieu  was  above  helping  his  followers  with  magic.  In  Florida, 
Abasi,  the  Americanized  version  of  Ubasi,  the  Yoruba  supreme  deity,  likewise  held  sway 
over  the  universe.  It  was  his  son,  Obatala,  who  helped  conjurers  in  their  magic.16 


16Ellis,  The  Yoruba-Speaking  Peoples,  34-124;  Opoku,  54-90;  MacGaffey,  53,  59, 
79,  Kennedy,  "Nanigo  in  Florida,"  153-156;  Hauptmann,  197-200. 


122 
In  Missouri  and  throughout  the  Anglo  cultural  zone,  the  supreme  being  was  the 
Christian  God.  While  casual  examiners  might  conclude  the  absence  of  an  overtly  African 
name  signaled  another  casualty  of  enslavement,  such  was  not  the  case.  On  the  contrary, 
many  of  the  West  Central  Africans  who  made  up  the  largest  group  of  the  imports  to  the 
Anglo  area  and  a  significant  proportion  of  those  in  the  Latin  area  had  a  Christian  heritage 
in  their  homeland.  Most  notably,  the  Portuguese  brought  Christianity  to  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Kongo  in  1491.  The  new  faith  spread  rapidly,  and  converts  included  the  king,  royal 
family,  and  many  nobles  by  the  early  sixteenth  century.  Alfonso  I,  who  ascended  to  the 
kingship  of  the  Kongo  in  1506,  even  attempted  to  create  a  Christian  state  modeled  on  the 
monarchies  of  Western  Europe.  Successive  rulers  followed  his  lead,  though  their  dream 
never  came  to  fruition.  By  the  mid  sixteenth  century,  the  Portuguese  had  discovered  the 
profitability  of  slave  trading.  To  obtain  captives,  the  Portuguese  encouraged  warfare 
among  the  various  regions  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Kongo  and  with  other  groups.  After 
restraining  themselves  for  a  century,  the  kingdom  finally  declared  war  on  the  Portuguese, 
only  to  be  dealt  a  death  blow.  By  the  late  seventeenth  century,  Christianity  had  largely 
disappeared.  Nevertheless,  the  model  of  a  one-God  religion  was  in  place.  Christianity 
had,  in  effect,  become  a  traditional  African  religion,  with  which  slaves  from  West  Central 
African  already  had  experience,  particularly  in  the  colonial  period.17 

Just  as  important  to  African- Americans'  conception  of  God  were  the  attributes 
that  they  assigned  to  Him.  Blacks  who  called  on  God  for  help  in  magic,  as  did  King 
Alexander  of  Missouri  and  a  host  of  other  conjurers  in  the  Anglo  area,  were  not  following 


17Roland  Oliver  and  J.  D.  Fage,  A  Short  History  of  Africa,  6th  ed.  (London: 
Penguin  Group,  1988),  106-109;  Joseph  E.  Harris,  Africans  and  Their  History,  Revised 
ed.  (New  York:  Penguin  Group,  1987),  135-138. 


123 
the  biblical  teachings  of  orthodox  Christianity,  which  is  clear  in  its  condemnation  of  the 
practice  of  divination  and  magic.  Neither  were  they  relying  on  a  purely  African 
worldview,  in  which  God  was  too  lofty  to  respond  to  the  spells  and  charms  of  a  mortal 
sorcerer.  On  the  contrary,  the  God  of  nineteenth-century  black  hoodooists  was,  like  the 
lesser  gods  of  Voodoo,  a  Creole  combination  of  more  than  one  tier  of  African  spiritual 
hierarchies.  In  the  Anglo  zone  and  Missouri,  God  was  a  magical  helper  who  aided 
conjurers  in  their  profession,  an  embodiment  of  the  attributes  of  the  lesser  gods  of  Africa, 
and  an  omnipotent  and  omniscient  being  who  was  far  above  needing  anything  from  his 
followers.18 

This  neither  African  nor  European  view  of  God  was  obvious  in  the  practice  of 
William  Adams  of  Texas.  While  Adams  clearly  believed  in  the  Christian  idea  of  God  as 
an  almighty  creator  of  all,  he  claimed  a  special  relationship  with  Him,  much  as  Zora 
Neale  Hurston  reported  that  she  had  a  uniquely  close  relationship  to  the  Great  One, 
apparently  a  title  for  the  Voodoo  god  Blanc  Dani.  Also,  Adams'  God  fulfilled  the  role  of 
a  magical  helper  through  acts  of  revelation,  during  which  He  showed  the  conjurer  how  to 
exercise  his  powers.  Adams  was  far  from  unique.  Seven  Sisters  of  Alabama  worked 
within  a  similar  conception  of  God.  Asked  by  an  interviewer  to  explain  how  she  learned 
to  conjure,  she  simply  stated  that  a  spirit  from  the  "Lord  Jesus  Christ"  taught  her.  While 
receiving  her  power  from  Jesus,  her  manner  of  referring  to  Him  as  "Lord"  indicates  her 
conception  of  his  lofty  standing.  Nevertheless,  Seven  Sisters  claimed  that  God  acted  in 
accordance  with  her  spells,  much  like  the  Voodoo  gods  of  New  Orleans  responded  to  the 


l8Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232-233;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  357- 
360. 


124 
offerings  of  their  followers.  Clearly,  Seven  Sisters'  ideas  were  not  wholly  African.  On 
the  other  hand,  she  relied  on  a  God  who  did  not  fit  well  within  orthodox  Christianity. 
While  she  claimed  to  trick  "in  the  name  o'  the  Lord,"  her  spells  included  ones  intended  to 
win  the  sexual  favors  of  women,  give  rivals  bad  luck,  and  kill  women  who  had  ensnared 
lovers  by  magic,  all  of  which  violated  biblical  teachings.19 

Two  other  tiers  of  the  West  African  spiritual  hierarchy,  ancestral  and  totemic 
animal  and  plant  spirits,  showed  less  persistence  in  the  American  South.  The  latter  were 
virtually  unknown,  with  their  only  representatives  being  taboos  against  eating  certain 
animals  by  Anglo-area  blacks  and  the  animal  names  adopted  by  the  likes  of  Dr.  Buzzard. 
Ghosts,  grave  goods,  and  wakes  were  common  throughout  both  the  Anglo  and  Latin 
areas.  Nevertheless,  ancestral  spirits  occupied  only  a  shadow  of  the  position  they  had 
held  in  Africa.  As  far  as  conjure  went,  the  ancestor's  chief  representative  in  the 
nineteenth  century  was  the  Kongo-derived  goopher  of  the  Anglo  zone.  Graveyard  dirt 
was  the  most  popular  material  for  charms  in  the  Anglo  area,  particularly  along  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.20  Goopher  dust  had  a  variety  of  uses,  ranging  from  helping  slaves 
escape  their  owners  to  aiding  accused  murderers  in  their  trials.  It  could  also  be  used  to 
harm,  frequently  appearing  in  malevolent  charms  designed  to  cause  sickness  or  death, 
powders  to  dissuade  rivals  in  love,  and  even  poisons  to  taint  food  and  wells. 
Furthermore,  conjurers  chose  the  graves  from  which  to  take  goopher  dust  based  on  what 


"Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-22;  Carmer,  218. 

20Bones  were  another,  less  common,  conjure  material  associated  with  the  dead. 
For  example,  during  the  excavation  of  an  Indian  Mound  on  Georgia's  Savannah  River, 
black  laborers  collected  the  metacarpal  bones  from  the  skeletons  they  unearthed, 
believing  that  they  would  protect  them  from  conjure.  See  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the 
Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  178. 


125 
it  was  to  be  used  for.  For  instance,  to  save  the  life  of  accused  murderers,  friends  of  the 
prisoner  would  gather  dirt  from  the  grave  of  the  murdered  man,  leaving  three  pennies  in 
payment.  The  dead  person,  who  had  the  best  knowledge  of  the  crime,  could  exonerate  the 
wrongly  accused.  Even  if  the  accused  had  committed  the  crime,  the  spirit  might  be 
persuaded  by  magic  or  payment  to  aid  the  guilty.  In  general,  for  malevolent  work,  the 
grave  should  be  that  of  an  evil  person,  but  to  perform  good  magic,  the  goopher  dust 
should  be  obtained  from  the  grave  of  a  child  or  good  person.21 

The  best  represented  tiers  of  the  African  supernatural  hierarchy  were  those 
occupying  charms.  The  Mande-speakers  who  contributed  the  term,  "gris-gris,"  were 
particularly  influential  in  the  Latin  area.  According  to  the  eighteenth-century  slave  trader 
Nicholas  Owen,  the  Mandingos'  "gregory  bags"  were  large  leather  pouches  in  which  they 
carried  religious  items,  including  what  European  travelers  were  fond  of  referring  to  as 
"idols."  Gregory  bags'  chief  purpose,  however,  was  protection  from  harm,  thereby 
requiring  their  owners  to  carry  them  always.  In  the  American  South,  these  pouches 
shrank  in  size  and  formed  only  one  of  the  many  forms  of  gris-gris  present  in  the  Latin 
zone,  but  they  continued  to  exist.  The  best  examples  of  them  were  preserved  in  Missouri, 
where  some  African- Americans  carried  linen  bags  containing  luck  balls.  These  luck 
balls,  however,  did  more  than  communicate  luck  in  the  European  sense.  They  also 
embodied  the  souls  of  their  possessors.  Their  proprietors  carried  them  always,  fed  them, 
and  spoke  to  them,  calling  them  by  their  own  names.  The  loss  of  one  was  a  dreadful 


2 'J.  W.  Bendenbaugh,  "Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology:  A  Contribution  from  South 
Carolina,"  Southern  Workman  23  (1894):  46;  Georgia  Writers'  Project,  Savannah  Unit, 
Drums  and  Shadows,  36,  42,  44,  75,  84,  93-  94,  102,  125;  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the 
Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  173-180;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  91. 


126 
occurrence,  frequently  sending  its  owner  into  a  panic.  The  power  of  luck  balls  was 
illustrated  by  the  words  of  King  Alexander,  who  called  on  God  to  empower  one  such 
charm  for  Charles  Leland,  saying,  "May  this  ball  bring  all  good  luck  to  Charles  Leland. 
May  it  bind  down  all  devils,  may  it  bind  down  his  enemies  before  him,  may  it  bring  them 
under  his  feet."22  He  went  on  to  exhort  God  to  imbue  it  with  the  power  to  bring  friends, 
honor,  riches,  happiness,  success,  and  his  "heart's  desire."  The  physical  portion  of  the 
luck  ball  was  composed  of  knotted  white  yarn  and  silk  thread,  red  clover  blossoms, 
tinfoil,  and  dust.  He  imparted  some  of  his  own  spirit  to  it  by  spitting  on  it.  Then,  he 
named  the  ball  "Charles  Leland."  For  the  spirit  to  remain  strong,  the  human  Leland 
would  have  to  continue  to  feed  it  with  whiskey.23 

The  origin  of  Latin-area  charms  cannot  be  solely  assigned  to  Mande  gregory  bags. 
Instead,  they  are  a  mixture  of  the  beliefs  of  successive  waves  of  imports  into  the  area. 
Like  American  blacks,  African  peoples  had  a  large  variety  of  amulets  and  charms,  whose 
indwelling  spirits  followed  the  rules  of  sympathy  and  contagion  as  expressed  in  their 
material  composition.  Among  Fon  speakers,  these  were  called  "gbo,"  and  took  the  form 
of  soaps,  packets  or  bottles  filled  with  mixtures  of  magical  materials,  rings,  and  numerous 
other  items.  They  had  a  variety  of  uses,  ranging  from  protection  of  crops  when  tied  to 
trees  near  fields  to  binding  evil  spirits  when  incorporating  elements  of  knotting.  In 
addition,  these  were  usually  "fed"  with  some  form  of  alcohol,  blood,  or  food, 
accomplished  by  soaking  or  covering  the  bundle  with  them.  The  influence  of  West 


22Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232. 

"Nicholas  Owen,  Journal  of  a  Slave  Dealer,  50-5 1 ;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the 
Voodoos,"  232-233;  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  169-189. 


127 
African  gbo-style  charms  is  clear  in  the  materials  of  the  American  South.  Like  their 
African  counterparts,  they  often  had  specialized  functions,  designed  to  bring  luck,  love, 
financial  success,  and  virtually  any  other  desire.  Moreover,  they  frequently  required 
feeding,  usually  of  a  form  of  alcoholic  beverages.  In  addition,  while  packets  were  the 
most  common  of  African- American  charms,  there  were  others,  including  powders  and 
special  bathing  mixtures,  both  of  which  also  appeared  in  Africa.  Henry  Bibb,  for 
example,  once  relied  on  a  powder  when  seeking  to  avoid  punishment  from  his  master. 
Ewe  priests  and  magicians  used  similar  powders  to  force  open  locked  doors,  cause  and 
heal  madness,  and  blind  enemies.  Even  gregory  bag-style  charms  incorporated  elements 
of  gbo.  King  Alexander's  charm  used  knotting  as  a  way  to  bind  evil  spirits,  but  he  also 
specified  that  his  luck  ball's  outer  binding  not  be  tied  on  to  prevent  tying  up  the  charm's 
indwelling  spirit.  Similarly,  he  specified  that  it  required  feeding  to  remain  strong.24 

One  of  the  most  influential  forms  of  African  charms,  however,  were  the  "minkisi" 
(singular  "nkisi")  of  the  Kongo.  Manufactured  by  magicians,  minkisi  were  positive 
beings  inhabiting  charms  designed  to  protect  their  owners  from  spirit-induced  illness. 
Like  gregory  bags,  gbo,  and  related  northern  West  African  charms,  they  frequently  took 
the  shape  of  packets.25  Unlike  those  of  other  areas,  however,  minkisi  often  incorporated 
the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  in  the  form  of  dirt  from  graveyards,  a  material  identical  to  the 
goopher  dust  of  the  Anglo  zone.  The  pervasiveness  of  goopher  dust  alone  speaks  to  the 


24Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  6-8;  Suzanne  Preston  Blier,  "Vodun:  West  African 
Roots  of  Vodou,"  in  Sacred  Arts  of  Haitian  Vodou,  ed.  Donald  L.  Cosentino  (Los 
Angeles:  University  of  California  Fowler  Museum  of  Cultural  History,  1995),  73-76; 
Bibb,  25-32;  Ellis,  The  Ewe-Speaking  Peoples,  94;  Ellis,  The  Yoruba-Speaking  Peoples, 
119. 


25 


Voodoo  dolls  likewise  had  precedents  in  the  West  Central  Africa. 


128 
power  of  Kongo  ancestry  in  the  Anglo  area,  though  unlike  in  the  Kongo,  American 
graveyard  dust  was  as  often  used  for  evil  as  for  good.  For  example,  Roland  Steiner,  a 
Georgia  observer,  recorded  the  use  of  graveyard  dust  in  charms  designed  to  cause  disease 
and  kill,  drive  away  enemies,  and  conjure  wells.  Steiner  met  one  goopher  doctor,  named 
Tom  Franklin,  who  had  a  reputation  for  working  all  of  his  magic  by  the  use  of  graveyard 
dust.  The  more  limited  use  of  graveyard  dust  in  the  Latin  area  also  bespoke  the  influence 
of  minkisi.  Other  common  forms  of  minkisi  were  roots,  which  likewise  appeared  in  both 
cultural  zones.  According  to  Kongo  belief,  the  first  nkisi  was  the  spirit  Funza,  who  dwelt 
in  twisted  roots.  John  the  Conqueror  root,  common  throughout  the  nineteenth-century 
South,  was  the  American  derivation  of  the  African  Funza.  Kongos  chewed  and  spat 
another  kind  of  root,  called  "disisa"  or  "nsanga-lavu,"  in  order  to  drive  off  enemies  and 
evil  forces.  This  roughly  corresponded  to  the  chewing  roots  employed  by  African- 
Americans.  For  instance,  Henry  Bibb  chewed  a  root  and  spat  its  juice  toward  his  master 
to  prevent  being  punished.  In  later  days,  such  roots  would  be  known  as  "Chewing  John," 
the  most  commonly  used  species  of  which  was  galangal,  a  member  of  the  ginger  family, 
as  were  the  Kongo  disisa  or  nsanga-lavu.26 

Minkisi  were  but  the  benevolent  side  of  Kongo  magic.  Alongside  positive  magic 
existed  the  evils  of  witchcraft.  A  common  means  by  which  witches  harmed  their  victims 
was  by  stealing  their  souls  and  imprisoning  them  inside  a  bottle.  Similar  practices 
persisted  in  conjure.  Stopping  bowels  by  sealing  someone's  excrement  in  a  tree  was  one 


26Thompson,  Flash  of  the  Spirit,  117-131;  Robert  Farris  Thompson,  Face  of  the 
Gods:  Art  and  Altars  of  Africa  and  the  African  Americas  (New  York:  The  Museum  of 
African  Art,  1993),  47-107;  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in 
Georgia,"  173-180;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  6-8,  102;  Bibb,  25-32. 


129 
derivation  of  such  Kongo  witchcraft.  Another  was  the  practice  of  placing  materials 
representing  particular  people,  such  as  names  or  fingernails,  in  bottles  or  packets,  which 
were  then  thrown  in  running  water,  buried  in  graves,  turned  upside  down,  or  similarly 
manipulated  in  order  to  cause  death.27 

Other  aims  of  African- American  charms  and  spells  had  their  origins  across  the 
Atlantic.  A  black  teacher  who  attended  the  Hampton  Institute  reported  that  as  a  teenager, 
she  had  felt  the  effects  of  a  "crazy  spell,"  that  had  caused  her  to  contemplate  suicide  and 
violence  to  others.  To  heal  her,  her  mother  took  her  to  a  root  doctor.  After  a  few  days  of 
taking  a  mixture  of  water  and  a  mysterious  liquid,  she  recovered.  Such  cases  were  well 
known  in  Africa,  where  evil  magicians  frequently  and  literally  drove  enemies  mad. 
Among  the  Ewe,  they  did  so  by  throwing  specially-prepared  powder  on  their  enemies' 
footprints.  The  most  feared  maladies  inflicted  by  nineteenth-century  hoodooists,  animal 
infestations  of  human  bodies,  also  originated  in  Africa.  Throughout  West  Africa,  witches 
were  feared  for  their  ability  to  harm  others,  by  placing  both  animate  and  inanimate  items 
within  their  victims.  According  to  the  nineteenth-century  traveler,  Mary  Kingsley,  this 
practice  was  particularly  common  among  the  Ibo  and  those  speaking  languages  of  the 
Bantu  group,  including  the  Kongo  people.  She  reported  on  examples  of  bodies  infested 
with  pieces  of  iron  pots,  bundles  of  palm  leaves,  and  millipedes.  An  account  she  heard  of 
from  two  "very  trustworthy"  male  witnesses  impressed  her  more  than  the  others.  One  of 
the  men's  mutual  relatives  had  been  bewitched.  Following  the  administration  of  an 
emetic,  a  small  animal  emerged  from  the  afflicted's  body  and  grew  rapidly  in  size. 


27MacGaffey,  162;  Bacon,  210;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork, 
5-6,  2618;  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  179. 


130 
According  to  the  men,  it  had  the  body  of  a  lizard  and  wings  like  a  bat.  An  hour  after  the 
reptile  came  to  light,  it  flew  away.  Those  present  concluded  that  a  witch  had  hidden  the 
creature  in  some  food,  which  the  victim  had  eaten.  Had  it  not  been  treated,  it  would  have 
continued  to  grow,  eating  away  its  host's  body  until  he  died.28 

In  many  cases,  even  the  items  used  to  make  up  the  various  forms  of  African 
charms  survived  in  America.  For  example,  throughout  the  South,  cross  marks  (X)  were 
powerful  protective  symbols.  Derived  from  a  cruciform  Kongo  symbol  for  the  cosmos 
and  continuity  of  life,  they  sometimes  adorned  African-American  graves.  In  New 
Orleans,  Voodooists  drew  similar  marks  on  the  tomb  of  Marie  Laveau  as  a  petition  for 
her  aid.  In  central  Georgia,  blacks  drew  cross  marks  in  the  earth  and  spat  on  them  to 
avert  bad  luck.  When  drawn  in  a  path,  anyone  traveling  it  would  either  have  to  see  it 
beforehand  and  walk  around  it  or  be  cursed,  making  them  an  excellent  way  to  dissuade 
trespassers  and  enemies.  Hoodoo  rituals  performed  at  crossroads  hearken  back  to  the 
same  source.  Red  flannel,  one  of  the  favorite  materials  used  in  making  conjure  bags  and 
other  charms,  likewise  derived  from  African  sources.  Among  the  Kongo  peoples,  red 
represented  blood,  birth,  death,  sunrise,  and  sunset,  making  it  a  powerful  color  for  its 
sympathetic  value.  Among  the  Fon,  charms  were  usually  red,  a  favorite  color  of  the 
spirits.29 


.-■-.[ 


'Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology"  28  (1899):  314-315;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  5-6;  Ellis,  The  Ewe-Speaking  Peoples,  94;  Mary  Kingsley,  Travels 
in  West  Africa:  Congo  Francois,  Corisco  and  Cameroons,  5th  ed.,  with  an  Introduction  by 
Elizabeth  Claridge  (London:  Virago  Press,  1982),  470-471. 


29n 


Thompson,  Flash  of  the  Spirit,  108-1 16;  Thompson,  Face  of  the  Gods,  49-50; 
Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  129;  Steiner,  "Superstitions  and  Beliefs  from  Central 
Georgia,"  262;  Gomez,  204-206;  MacGaffey,  52;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  220-221,  290- 
291. 


131 
Another  material  often  used  in  African- American  magic  were  footprints.  Once 
again,  the  practice  arose  in  blacks'  ancestral  home.  In  West  Africa,  treating  footprints 
with  magical  materials  could  affect  those  who  made  them.  For  instance,  placing  thorns  in 
the  impression  made  by  the  foot  injured  their  maker  as  they  would  have  had  he  or  she 
stepped  on  them.  Dirt  from  foot  tracks  could  be  incorporated  into  charms  for  similar 
ends.  Animal  and  plant  products  used  in  hoodoo  most  likely  sprang  from  African  roots. 
Red  pepper,  a  common  protective  charm  in  the  United  States,  served  the  same  role  in 
West  Africa.  Black  cat  bones,  thought  to  give  invisibility  to  their  possessors,  also  sprang 
from  the  same  origins.  One  of  the  clearest  examples  of  African  magic  surviving  in  the 
American  South  were  the  protective  powers  of  chickens.  Newbell  Niles  Puckett 
proclaimed  that  a  frizzly  rooster  was  "veritable  hoodoo  watchdog"  in  the  eyes  of  black 
Americans,  capable  of  scratching  up  any  hidden  malevolent  conjures.  In  the  Old  World, 
they  could  do  the  same.  Moreover,  chickens  conferred  luck  when  eaten  and  could  even 
destroy  evil  magic  when  they  encountered  it.  In  some  areas,  they  could  even  prevent  fires 
in  villages.30 

In  Africa,  a  variety  of  human  specialists  dealt  with  the  spirit  world.  Among  the 
Kongo,  for  example,  village  chiefs  and  elders  were  both  governmental  leaders  and  priests, 
communicating  with  and  conducting  worship  of  the  ancestors.  Localized  spirits, 
however,  were  the  provenance  of  priests.  Chiefs,  elders,  and  priests  were  public  figures, 
but  two  types  of  private  specialists  also  existed.  The  first  were  magicians  who  made 
benevolent  charms  for  sale  to  clients.  The  second  type,  witches,  were  evil.  Instead  of 


30Kingsley,  446,  469;  Opoku,  148;  Georgia  Writers'  Project,  Savannah  Unit, 
Drums  and  Shadows,  43,  61,  200,  206;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  220,  290-291;  Long, 
Spiritual  Merchants,  15. 


132 
helping  others,  they  stole  victims'  souls,  metaphysically  "eating"  those  unfortunate 
enough  to  encounter  them.  They  dealt  chiefly  with  ghosts,  the  unhappy  spirits  of  dead 
witches.  Moreover,  witches  had  no  need  to  use  charms  themselves,  though  they  might 
sell  them  to  clients.  In  northern  West  Africa,  similar  divisions  of  function  occurred. 
Among  many  peoples,  tribal  and  village  leaders  such  as  chiefs  and  elders  retained  their 
spiritual  roles.  Among  the  Akan  people,  for  instance,  chiefs  led  the  worship  of  national 
gods  and  ancestors,  a  common  feature  of  northern  West  African  cultures.  Priests,  like 
those  of  the  Kongo,  usually  devoted  themselves  to  particular  lesser  gods.  Also,  these 
societies  recognized  the  existence  of  both  good  and  evil  magic,  practiced  by  magicians  or 
sorcerers  and  witches,  respectively.  Once  again,  witches  preyed  on  the  souls  and  property 
of  humans,  having  no  need  of  magical  formulas  or  charms.  Moreover,  they  could  fly, 
take  on  the  form  of  animals,  become  invisible,  and  "ride"  their  victims  while  they  slept, 
gradually  wearing  them  down  in  body  and  spirit.  The  Yoruba,  Fon,  and  other  groups  had 
a  fifth  type  of  specialist  who  performed  divination.  Some  peoples  had  yet  another 
category,  typically  known  as  a  "witch  doctor"  or  "witch  hunter,"  whose  sole  purpose  was 
to  hunt  down  and  destroy  witches.  Witch  hunting  was  particularly  popular  in  Ghana  but 
eventually  spread  throughout  much  of  the  region.  Though  restrictions  on  the  professions 
varied  from  society  to  society,  these  specialists  could  usually  be  either  male  or  female, 
with  the  exception  of  chiefs,  who  were  almost  always  men.31 


31MacGaffey,  160-165;  Opoku,  11-13,  74-91,  140-151;  Geoffrey  Parrinder,  West 
African  Religion:  A  Study  of  the  Beliefs  and  Practices  of  Akan,  Ewe,  Yoruba,  Ibo,  and 
Kindred  Peoples,  2nd  ed.,  with  a  Foreword  by  Edwin  Smith  (London:  Epworth  Press, 
1961),  137-171. 


133 
As  was  true  with  the  tiers  of  African  religious  hierarchies,  the  categories  of 
spiritual  experts  merged  in  the  American  South,  but  elements  of  each  survived.  For 
instance,  both  men  and  women  could  serve  as  magical  and  religious  specialists. 
Moreover,  in  some  places,  vestiges  of  the  originally  distinct  roles  of  chiefs,  elders, 
priests,  magicians,  witches,  diviners,  and  witch  hunters  persisted.  For  example,  Anglo- 
zone  African- Americans  sometimes  thought  of  witches,  usually  known  as  hags,  as 
separate  from  conjurers.  Hags,  like  the  witches  of  Africa,  entered  victims'  homes  under 
the- cloak  of  invisibility,  riding  them  during  their  sleep.  The  results  were  nightmares.  In 
addition,  they  could  change  their  forms,  slipping  out  of  their  skin  to  appear  as  animals. 
Conjurers,  meanwhile,  usually  combined  the  roles  of  diviners,  magicians,  and  witch 
hunters.  As  such,  they  told  the  future,  provided  magical  charms  to  their  clients,  and 
helped  victims  of  hag-craft  overcome  their  tormenters.  This  distinction  did  not  always 
hold,  though.  Unlike  the  divinatory  and  magical  specialists  of  Africa,  conjurers  were 
widely  feared  for  their  ability  to  work  evil.  For  instance,  South  Carolina's  Dr.  Buzzard 
sold  both  positive  and  negative  charms  to  his  clients.  The  same  was  true  of  most 
nineteenth-century  conjurers  in  both  areas.  Even  when  a  hoodooist  eschewed  evil  work 
on  moral  grounds,  public  opinion  continued  to  paint  him  or  her  as  a  dangerous  individual 
who  should  be  feared.  Whatever  the  relation  between  hags  and  conjurers,  African  chiefs, 
elders,  and  priests  largely  disappeared  in  the  Anglo  South,  with  black  preachers  providing 
the  closest  approximation  of  their  functions  in  religious  worship.  In  the  Latin  area,  where 
workers  of  magic  also  officiated  over  worship  of  African  gods,  the  functions  of  chiefs, 
elders,  and  priests  survived  in  the  conglomerate  office  of  Voodoo  queens,  kings,  and 


134 
doctors.  Ironically,  while  more  of  the  roles  of  African  specialists  survived  in  the  Latin 
zone,  they  might  all  be  manifested  in  a  single  individual.32 

All  living  humans  were  also  spiritual  beings,  regardless  of  their  status  as 
specialists.  According  to  almost  all  African  cultures,  individuals  were  composed  of 
multiple  physical  and  nonphysical  portions.  In  northern  West  Africa,  in  particular,  the 
concept  of  multiple  "souls"  was  strong.  Among  the  Yoruba,  human  beings  were 
primarily  spiritual  in  makeup.  Closely  tied  to  the  mortal  body,  or  "ara,"  was  the  "ojiji," 
the  shadow,  which  accompanied  the  body  in  life  and  ceased  to  exist  upon  death.  In 
contrast,  the  "emi"  gave  life  to  the  body  and  returned  to  God  upon  physical  death,  but 
never  itself  died.  The  "okan,"  or  "heart,"  was  the  center  of  thought  and  action.  Like  the 
emi,  the  okan  never  died.  Instead,  it  was  reincarnated  in  the  bodies  of  its  physical 
descendants.  Less  closely  tied  to  the  physical  body  than  other  segments  of  a  human,  the 
okan  often  wandered  during  sleep,  exposing  it  to  attacks  from  other  okan,  particularly 
those  of  witches.  The  "ori"  was  similar  to  the  okan  in  that  it  pre-existed  the  physical 
body  with  which  it  joined,  but  it  did  not  undergo  the  process  of  reincarnation  as  did  the 
okan.  An  ori  was  the  most  important  part  of  an  individual's  personality  and  also  acted  as 
the  guardian  of  the  rest  of  a  human's  being.  The  final  part  of  a  human  in  Yoruba  belief 
was  the  "iye,"  or  "mental  body,"  which  was  the  conscious  part  of  a  person.  Together  the 
ara,  ojiji,  emi,  okan,  ori,  and  iye  worked  together  to  create  a  unified  being.  The  Kongo 
people  also  held  that  humans  had  a  multi-segmented  spiritual  existence.  In  addition  to  a 
physical  body,  the  invisible  part  of  a  human  was  composed  of  a  "life  soul,"  which  gave 


32«t 


'Folk-Lore  and  Ethnology:  Hags  and  Their  Ways,"  Southern  Workman  23 
(1892):  26-27;  McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  21-30;  Buel,  516-542;  Pitkin,  185- 
213,260-292. 


135 
vitality  to  the  body;  a  "body  soul,"  acting  as  a  person's  eternal  social  identity;  an  "image 
soul,"  which  was  ones  mortal  shadow  or  appearance;  and  a  "death  spirit."  From  the  last 
category  sprang  the  inhabitants  of  the  spirit  world  with  whom  the  living  communicated, 
including  as  ancestors,  ghosts,  nature  spirits,  and  inhabitants  of  charms.33 

To  be  sure,  the  full  complexity  of  African  conceptions  of  human  composition  did 
not  survive  the  crossing  of  the  Atlantic.  Nevertheless,  conjurers,  the  most  important 
representative  of  African  survivals  in  America,  sometimes  held  that  multiple  souls  were 
part  of  what  made  them  powerful  magicians.  One  of  the  Mississippi  conjurers 
interviewed  by  Ruth  Bass,  Divinity,  believed  that  he  had  been  marked  as  a  conjurer  from 
birth,  as  evidenced  by  his  being  born  with  a  caul.  The  caul  itself,  however,  was  but  a 
sign,  indicating  that  he  was  a  "double-sighter"  with  two  spirits.  One  spirit  remained  in 
the  body,  but  the  other,  like  the  okan  of  Yoruba  belief,  wandered  about,  allowing  Divinity 
to  see  and  talk  to  spiritual  beings  hidden  from  those  not  so  gifted.  In  Georgia,  Braziel 
Robinson  also  claimed  to  have  two  souls.  Like  Divinity,  he  said  the  reason  for  this 
unusual  circumstance  came  from  his  being  born  with  a  caul.  Another  similarity  between 
Robinson  and  Divinity  was  that  one  of  his  spirits  usually  stayed  put,  while  the  other  left 
the  body.  Once  again,  these  two  spirits  caused  their  possessor  to  be  able  to  see  and 
communicate  with  spirits.  In  Robinson's  experience,  the  spirits  tended  to  be  those  of 
dead  humans,  linking  his  wandering  spirit  to  the  "death  spirits"  of  the  Kongo  and  other 
African  peoples.  One  variation  from  African  belief  was  that  Robinson's  two  souls 


33 


Opoku,  91-100;  MacGaffey,  135-136. 


136 
worked  together  to  protect  him  from  evil,  as  would  the  Yoruban  ori.  If  he  refused  to 
listen  to  their  guidance,  both  would  desert  him.  Two  evil  spirits  would  take  their  place.34 
Another  important  aspect  of  African  culture,  were  the  so-called  "secret  societies" 
which  served  as  combination  religious,  social,  cultural,  and  governmental  organizations. 
Though  secrecy  surrounded  some  aspects  of  these  groups,  they  were  much  more  than  the 
term  "secret  societies"  implies.  Instead,  they  served  a  variety  of  functions,  including 
providing  moral  regulation,  care  for  the  needy,  diplomacy  and  trade  between  villages  and 
tribes,  and  education  for  both  men  and  women.  For  instance,  among  the  Mande  and 
related  peoples  of  northern  West  Africa,  the  Poro  and  Sande  societies  filled  such  roles.35 
The  Poro  and  Sande  organizations,  for  men  and  women,  respectively,  were  open  to  all 
members  of  the  society.  Moreover,  one  who  did  not  enter  a  society  upon  puberty  usually 
became  a  target  of  ostracism.  After  joining  the  societies  through  a  complex  initiation, 
members  could  advance  within  a  pyramidal  structure  through  a  succession  of  further 
ceremonies.  In  addition  to  regulating  life  on  a  local  level,  the  Mande's  wide-ranging  Poro 
and  Sande  societies  also  helped  forge  cultural  and  political  unity  from  the  many  dispersed 
villages  that  made  up  the  territories  occupied  by  the  Mande  ethnic  group.  Other  peoples 
had  similar  societies.  For  instance,  the  Krobo  people  of  modern-day  Ghana  had  the  Dipo 
society,  which  females  joined  upon  entering  womanhood.36 


34Bass,  "Mojo,"  88-89;  Steiner,  "Braziel  Robinson,"  226-228. 

35These  two  societies  eventually  spread  beyond  the  Mande,  gaining  a  presence 
among  many  West  African  groups. 

36Gomez,  94-102. 


137 
In  the  American  South,  African  men  and  women's  societies  truly  became  secret 
organizations,  hiding  many  of  their  practices,  and  sometimes  even  existence,  from 
outsiders.  They  also  largely  abandoned  their  roles  in  economics  and  politics,  becoming 
wholly  religious  and  magical  in  purpose.  As  a  result,  evidence  for  the  survival  of  African 
organizations  in  the  South  is  sparse.  What  data  exists,  though,  is  convincing.  Scattered 
references  to  sects  involving  "sacred  spirits"  argue  in  favor  of  the  minor  presence  of 
African-derived  societies  in  the  Anglo  area.  As  with  other  aspects  of  African  life, 
however,  they  were  much  more  common  in  the  Latin  area.  They  were  most  easily 
recognizable  in  Florida,  where  the  word  "Nanigo"  preserved  the  Cuban  name  for  a 
society  originally  founded  by  the  Efik  people  of  the  Niger  River  delta.  In  the  United 
States,  members  of  the  Nanigo  society/religion  continued  to  practice  traditional  dances, 
parades,  and  other  rituals  well  into  the  twentieth  century.  A  few  even  remembered  the 
society's  African  name,  Carabali  Apapa  Abacua.  Each  of  the  three  words  had  a  meaning 
referring  to  the  origin  and  function  of  the  organization.  "Carabali,"  a  Cuban  synonym  for 
"Efik,"  referred  to  its  cultural  origin,  while  "Apapa"  meant  something  "old"  or  "great." 
The  last  word,  "Abacua,"  meant  "pledge."  In  short,  the  name  roughly  translated  as 
"Pledge  of  the  Old  Efik."  African  societies  existed  in  Missouri  and  Louisiana  as  well, 
though  they  were  generally  confined  to  practitioners  of  magic  and  less  clearly  defined  as 
in  the  former  Spanish  colony.  In  Missouri,  conjurers  formed  the  confederation  known  as 
"the  Circle,"  entered  through  the  lengthy  process  of  initiation  and  apprenticeship. 
Louisiana's  hoodooists  seem  to  have  formed  similar  associations,  as  evidenced  by  the 
secretive  initiations  and  apprenticeships  undergone  by  Zora  Neale  Hurston  in  the  early 


138 
twentieth  century.  The  covert  nature  of  Voodoo's  rituals  indicates  that  its  members  may 
have  seen  themselves  as  members  of  some  form  of  hidden  organization.37 

The  initiations  into  secret  societies  undergone  by  Latin-area  hoodooists  further 
emphasized  their  African  origin.  Zora  Neale  Hurston's  initiation  at  the  hands  of  Samuel 
Thompson,  though  designed  primarily  to  give  her  the  power  to  conjure,  appears  to  have 
been  a  pared-down  blend  of  the  rituals  of  African  societies.38  As  with  Hurston, 
prospective  members  of  the  Mande's  Sande  and  Krobo's  Dipo  societies  lived  in 
seclusion,  having  contact  only  with  society  officials  for  the  bulk  of  the  initiation. 
Moreover,  during  this  period  both  Hurston  and  the  African  novitiates  were  to  keep 
themselves  pure  in  mind  and  body  and  pay  a  fee  to  officiants.  In  addition,  both  the 
American  and  African  initiations  included  a  time  during  which  those  who  hoped  to  enter 
the  societies'  ranks  underwent  a  period  of  training.  Among  the  Mande  and  Krobo,  they 
learned  about  topics  as  diverse  as  motherhood,  respect  for  elders,  physiology,  and  first 
aid,  but  in  New  Orleans,  Hurston  learned  only  about  magic.  Both  the  African  societies 
and  Thompson's  Voodoo  initiation  employed  ritual  clothing  to  signify  the  women's  new 
state.  Other  elements  were  specific  to  one  or  the  other  African  society.  Specifically 
Krobo  elements,  though,  were  more  prevalent  than  Mande  ones.  For  example,  one  of  the 
most  important  acts  undertaken  by  Dipo  initiates  was  the  sacrifice  of  a  goat.  In  Hurston's 
case,  a  sheep  took  its  place,  though  the  sacrifice  remained.  Also,  both  Hurston  and  her 
Krobo  counterparts  partook  of  communal  feasts.  Ritual  cleansings  followed  by  paintings 


"Gomez,  99-102;  Murphy,  32-35;  Kennedy,  "Nanigo  in  Florida,"  153-156; 
Hauptmann,  197-200; ;  Cappick,  9  May  1958,  7;  16  May  1958,  7;  Mary  Owen,  "Among 
the  Voodoos,"  23 1 ;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America." 


38 


An  account  of  Hurston's  initiation  appears  in  the  previous  chapter. 


139 
on  initiates'  bodies  by  those  officiating  likewise  appeared  in  the  rituals  of  the  Dipo 
society  and  Thompson.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  both  rituals  was  the  "crowning"  of  the 
women  with  a  specially-made  hat,  originally  intended  to  imitate  Krobo  priests' 
ceremonial  headwear.39  Initiations  in  other  parts  of  the  Latin  area  likewise  shared 
elements  of  African  societies.  For  instance,  initiates  into  the  Sande  society,  and  its  male 
counterpart,  the  Poro,  took  new  names,  a  practice  that  Hurston  encountered  in  other 
initiations.  The  custom  was  typical  in  Missouri  conjure.  Similarly,  Missouri  hoodooists 
learned  dances  as  well  as  magic,  a  common  feature  in  African  men  and  women's 
societies.  Also,  in  both  Missouri  and  Louisiana,  the  initiations  took  on  aspects  of  African 
priestly  initiations,  as  evidenced  by  the  novitiates'  special  relationship  with  particular 
gods  or  spirits.40 

Despite  the  similarities  between  Mande  and  Krobo  initiations  and  those  of  the 
American  South,  many  features  of  the  rituals  did  not  survive.  Most  notably,  a  man 
conducted  Hurston's  initiation,  which  would  not  have  happened  in  Krobo  or  Mande 
lands.  Also,  particular  items  and  sacred  locations  had  disappeared  by  the  time  Hurston 
underwent  her  induction  into  Voodoo.  Krobo  women,  for  instance,  had  to  climb  a  sacred 
rock,  called  the  Totroku  before  they  could  enter  womanhood,  an  aspect  of  the  ceremonies 
which  had  no  part  in  the  practices  of  the  American  South.  Elephant  hairs,  with  which 
Dipo  initiates  adorned  their  heads  at  the  close  of  the  initiations,  shared  a  similar  fate. 
Despite  notable  losses,  however,  these  rituals  remained  largely  African  in  form  and 


390ther  aspects  of  the  initiation,  such  as  the  wearing  of  new  clothes,  appeared  in 
both  priestly  and  men  and  women's  society  initiations.  See  Opoku,  75-90. 

40Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  357-360;  Opoku,  1 12-123;  Mary  Owen, 
"Among  the  Voodoos,"  231-238. 


140 
function.  Rather  than  degrading  over  time,  they  adapted  to  new  circumstances,  surviving 
for  more  than  a  century  after  the  close  of  the  international  slave  trade.41 

African-derived  initiations  were  one  way  for  prospective  conjurers  to  gain  their 
powers,  but  Africa  also  provided  the  blueprint  for  those  who  gained  it  by  other  means. 
Throughout  northern  West  Africa  and  the  Kongo,  priests  and  witches  often  acquired  their 
abilities  from  parents,  particularly  mothers.  Among  the  Tiv  of  Nigeria,  for  instance, 
magic  was  understood  as  a  substance  which  grew  in  witches'  livers,  making  it  possible  to 
pass  it  to  children.  In  other  instances,  gods  or  spirits  gifted  those  who  they  wanted  to 
serve  them.  For  example,  among  the  Fon,  distinctive  appearances,  resulting  from  the 
likes  of  albinism,  deformities,  and  melanism,  indicated  such  gifts.  Similarly,  twins, 
infants  delivered  by  breach  births,  and  children  born  immediately  after  the  death  of 
siblings  were  often  destined  for  spiritual  careers  based  on  unusual  birth.  Moreover,  most 
West  African  priests  and  priestesses  received  some  form  of  call,  usually  indicated  by 
possession  by  the  being  they  were  to  serve.  As  in  the  American  South,  such  gifting  was 
not  always  welcome  to  the  receiver.  Evil  spirits  were  most  apt  to  make  victims  of  those 
they  chose.  According  to  Kofi  Asare  Opoku,  demons  sometimes  forced  people  into 
witchcraft,  "coercing  them,  even  against  their  will,  into  casting  evil  on  their  neighbors."42 
These  same  evil  spirits  could  also  be  called  on  to  grant  the  power  of  witchcraft,  the 
African  equivalent  of  the  black  American  practice  of  selling  ones  soul  to  Satan. 
Furthermore,  African  workers  of  magic  underwent  a  process  of  learning.  For  members  of 
the  priesthood  and  sorcerers,  the  learning  took  place  during  initiations  into  their  craft  and 


41Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  357-360;  Opoku,  112-123. 
42Opoku,  144. 


141 
periods  of  apprenticeship,  during  which  they  would  learn  herbal  magic,  sacred  dances, 
taboos,  and  other  aspects  of  their  religion  and  magic.  Witches  had  no  need  to  learn  how 
to  perform  magic,  as  was  sometimes  the  case  in  the  American  South.  They  harmed  the 
souls  of  their  victims  with  their  own  souls.43 

Nineteenth-century  blacks'  shared  much  with  their  African  ancestors.  Spiritual 
hierarchies,  concepts  of  magical  specialization  and  human  spiritual  makeup,  and  methods 
of  gaining  occult  power  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this  assertion  in  respect  to  conjure. 
While  much  of  African- Americans'  religious  heritage  was  destroyed  by  the  hardship 
inherent  in  slavery  and  by  many  blacks'  willing  conversion  to  Christianity,  it  retained  a 
vital  niche  in  their  folk  beliefs.  Nevertheless,  when  old  beliefs  and  customs  disappeared, 
new  traditions  took  their  place.  These  innovations  came  not  from  Africa  but  from  those 
peoples  blacks  encountered  in  their  new  homeland. 


430puku,  75-90,  140-151;  Parrinder,  156-171;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America," 
357-360,  390-391;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  97-1 11;  Blier,  65. 


CHAPTER  4 

WITCHES  AND  MEDICINE  MEN: 

EUROPEAN  AND  NATIVE  AMERICAN  BUILDING  BLOCKS  OF  HOODOO 

Most  Americans,  particularly  whites,  learn  what  they  know  of  African- American 
magical  practices  from  television  documentaries  and  print  sources  aimed  at  popular 
readerships.  One  recent  documentary  on  Voodoo,  entitled  "The  Evil  Eye,"  appeared  on 
the  television  program  "History's  Mysteries."  As  with  most  recent  productions  of  the 
sort,  its  central  argument  was  that  Voodoo  was  and  is  a  valid  religion,  free  from  the 
demonic  characteristics  ascribed  to  it  in  popular  belief.  To  this  end,  it  stressed  Voodoo's 
African  roots,  arguing  that  the  vilification  of  the  religion  in  past  ages  was  a  result  of  racist 
assumptions.  Other  potential  influences  were  summed  up  in  a  statement  that  Voodoo  had 
been  "enriched  by  contact  with  Catholicism."1 

Most  recent  books  on  conjure  have  followed  the  same  formulation  as  the 
television  programs.  A.  P.  Antippas'  A  Brief  History  of  Voodoo:  Slavery  &  the  Survival 
of  the  African  Gods  is  one  such  example.  As  its  title  suggests,  this  short  book,  published 
by  a  popular  New  Orleans  tourist  shop,  emphasizes  the  role  of  African  beliefs  in  Voodoo 
and  conjure.  As  with  "The  Evil  Eye,"  the  book  dismisses  non-African  influences  with  no 
more  than  brief  acknowledgments  that  Catholic  saints  helped  preserve  the  old  gods  and 
that  Protestant  worship  styles  reminded  slaves  of  their  traditional  religious  ceremonies. 
This  presentation  of  conjure  makes  it  appear  to  be  an  intact  African  religion.  Thus, 


'Bram  Rods,  executive  producer,  "History's  Mysteries:  The  Evil  Eye"  (Film  Roos, 
Inc.,  1999). 

142 


143 
contributions  from  other  cultures  seem  minimal  or  nonexistent.  In  a  time  when  New  Age 

rejection  of  Western  religion,  pluralistic  assertions  of  equality  among  faiths,  and  black 

cultural  nationalism  are  central  forces  shaping  interpretations  of  hoodoo,  such  an 

approach  in  popular  media  is  to  be  expected.2 

Unfortunately  for  the  study  of  hoodoo,  the  paucity  of  scholarly  works  on  the 
subject  has  left  the  popular  interpretation  of  conjure  largely  unchallenged.  Without 
doubt,  nineteenth-century  blacks  built  conjure  upon  an  African  foundation.  The  structure 
which  they  raised,  however,  incorporated  elements  from  cultures  far  from  their  ancestral 
homeland.  European  and  American  Indian  elements  were  as  important  in  the  practice  of 
conjure  as  those  originating  in  Africa.  Moreover,  conjure  served  as  a  microcosm  of  the 
African- American  experience,  demonstrating  immigrant  African  origins  coupled  with  an 
essentially  American  experience  of  assimilation  of  cultural  differences. 

In  New  Orleans,  Voodoo  survived  as  a  religion  in  its  own  right,  but  in  the  Anglo 
South,  Christianity  succeeded  in  erasing  large-scale  adherence  to  the  older  faiths.  Even  in 
the  case  of  conjurers,  it  required  accommodation  to  a  monotheistic  worldview, 
accounting  for  the  gradual  disappearance  of  full-fledged  African  religions.  At  the  same 
time,  contact  with  Europeans  was  far  from  simply  a  destructive  force  when  it  came  to 
hoodoo.  On  the  contrary,  European  contributions  to  nineteenth-century  conjure  rivaled 
those  which  survived  from  African.  Though  black  Christians  owed  allegiance  to  a  God 
distinct  from  those  revered  by  their  ancestors,  they  often  felt  no  need  to  abandon  their 
magical  practices.  European  influence  affected  hoodoo  in  three  distinct  ways:  erosion  of 


2A.  P.  Antippas,  A  Brief  History  of  Voodoo:  Slavery  &  the  Survival  of  the  African 
Gods  (New  Orleans:  Marie  Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo,  1988) 


144 
African  practices,  reinforcement  of  African  customs,  and  introduction  of  new  ideas  and 
practices. 

Most  sources,  popular  and  scholarly,  are  quick  to  point  out  the  negative  impact  of 
European  dominance  on  the  survival  of  African  beliefs.  To  white  slaveholders,  Voodoo 
and  conjure  were  at  best  offensive  relics  of  paganism.  At  worst,  they  could  become 
rallying  points  for  slave  rebellions.  The  result  was  often  legal  action.  During  the 
eighteenth  century,  governors  of  Louisiana  banned  slave  imports  from  Martinique  and 
Santo  Domingo  because  of  their  predilection  for  Voodoo.  Gris-gris  practiced  against 
whites  could  lead  to  imprisonment,  as  occurred  in  the  case  of  Carlos,  who  died  in  prison 
after  having  planned  to  use  magic  to  kill  his  master,  Francisco  Bellile.  Suppression  of 
Voodoo  and  its  related  magical  practices  continued  up  to  and  beyond  the  Civil  War, 
during  which  New  Orleans  authorities  frequently  broke  up  gatherings,  fined  believers, 
and  arrested  leaders.  Outside  New  Orleans,  conjure  was  likewise  an  object  of  attack  to 
the  degree  that  blacks  hid  its  practice  from  whites.  Even  after  emancipation,  African- 
Americans  did  not  possess  true  spiritual  freedom,  with  open  practice  of  African  religions 
being  suppressed  by  force  in  at  least  one  South  Carolina  case.  By  the  late  nineteenth- 
century,  white  efforts  to  eliminate  conjure  had  so  stigmatized  its  practice  that  educated 
members  of  both  races  saw  its  survival  as  a  major  failing  of  the  African- American  people. 
An  editor  of  the  Southern  Workman  went  so  far  as  to  proclaim  that  accounts  of  conjure 
"throw  light  upon  the  mental  condition  of  the  masses  of  this  people,  and  the  work  that 
must  be  done  among  them  if  they  are  to  be  raised  to  civilization  or  even  saved  from 
extinction."3  Public  hostility,  coupled  with  the  rigors  of  a  slave  system  which  required 


3R.,  L.,  G.,  and  A.,  30. 


145 
supervised  work  from  sunup  to  sundown,  was  enough  to  ensure  that  no  African  religion 
survived  intact  in  the  nineteenth-century  South.4 

Despite  overt  opposition  to  African  belief  systems,  much  in  European  beliefs 
helped  preserve  the  very  African  convictions  that  whites  sought  to  destroy.  First  and 
foremost,  Europe  had  its  own  brands  of  magic  workers.  During  the  centuries  preceding 
the  settlement  of  the  New  World,  belief  in  witchcraft  was  widespread  in  the  countries 
which  would  later  supply  America  with  its  white  settlers.  By  the  time  colonists  had 
begun  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  the  church  and  general  populace  had  firmly  defined 
witchcraft  as  a  form  of  heresy  characterized  by  malevolent  magic  acquired  through  pacts 
with  the  devil,  whom  they  worshiped  in  groups  called  "covens."  Witches  also  reputedly 
sacrificed  and  ate  children,  changed  their  shape  at  will,  and  bent  spirits  to  their  service.  It 
inspired  such  terror  that  it  led  to  the  deaths  of  at  least  60,000  on  charges  of  witchcraft 
during  the  late  middle  ages  and  early  modern  period.5    Some  estimates  range  above 
1,000,000.  Not  until  the  eighteenth  century  did  prosecution  of  witchcraft  largely 
disappear  from  European  legal  systems.6 


4Asbury,  254-259;  Porteous,  61-63;  Robert  Tallant,  "Chronology  of  Voodoo," 
photocopy,  pp.  245-247,  New  Orleans  Public  Library,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana;  Joyner, 
144. 

5For  the  reality  of  witchcraft,  see  Jeffrey  Burton  Russell,  Witchcraft  in  the  Middle 
Ages  (Ithaca  and  London:  Cornell  University  Press,  1972),  20-23.  Russell  argues  that 
while  many  victims  of  witchcraft  accusations  were  innocent,  witchcraft  itself  was  a 
genuine  practice,  using  satanic  pacts  and  magic  as  a  way  of  rejecting  the  dominant  social 
order. 

6Russell,  1-43,  232-233;  Brian  P.  Levack,  The  Witch-hunt  in  Early  Modern 
Europe  (London  and  New  York:  Longman,  1987),  19-22.  For  the  classic  witch  hunters' 
manual,  see  Henricus  Institoris,  Malleus  Maleficarum,  trans,  and  with  an  introduction, 
bibliography,  and  notes  by  Montague  Summers  (New  York:  Benjamin  Blom,  Inc.,  1928). 


146 
Witchcraft  did  not  stay  in  the  Old  World.  During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  Anglo-American  colonists  accused  at  least  three  hundred  forty- four  of  their 
neighbors  of  witchcraft.  About  one  in  ten  suffered  execution.  Ninety  percent  of  the 
accused  witches  were  New  Englanders.  Others  took  place  in  middle  colonies  like  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  with  the  last  witch  killing  carried  out  by  a  Philadelphia  mob  in 
1787.  Rather  than  being  a  sign  of  witchcraft's  absence  from  the  South,  however,  the 
paucity  of  prosecutions  reflected  the  region's  more  tolerant  attitude  in  respect  to  religion 
and  magic.  For  example,  in  Virginia,  when  allegations  of  witchcraft  appeared  before  the 
courts,  plaintiffs  were  likely  to  suffer  fines  for  false  accusation.  Very  few  supposed 
witches  suffered  any  punishment,  and  the  death  penalty  was  virtually  unknown.7 

Among  the  plain  folk,  particularly  in  the  backwoods,  witches  were  reportedly 
common  and  feared.  While  backwoods  settlers  killed  no  witches,  they  nevertheless 
regarded  them  as  a  malevolent  force  to  be  reckoned  with.  Among  their  evil  acts,  they 
would  transform  unwitting  sleepers  into  horses  and  ride  them,  bewitch  cattle  to  stop  them 
giving  milk,  and  kill  or  injure  victims  by  throwing  "witch-balls"  at  pictures  of  their 
victims.8  The  most  celebrated  instance  of  southern  witchcraft  took  place  in  Tennessee. 
In  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  mysterious  shape-shifting  and  often  invisible 
being  reportedly  tormented  John  Bell  and  his  family  with  apparitions,  cursing  from  empty 
air,  and  physical  attacks,  eventually  bringing  about  his  death  and  breaking  up  the  family. 


7David  Hackett  Fischer,  Albion 's  Seed:  Four  British  Folkways  in  America  (New 
York  and  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press,  1989),  127-130,  340-344,  526-530,  704-710. 

8These  witch-balls  were  made  of  hair  from  cows  or  horses,  rolled  into  a  ball 
between  the  hands  of  a  witch. 


147 
Though  suspicions  focused  on  a  woman  by  the  name  of  Mrs.  Batts,  well  known  for 
practicing  minor  acts  of  magic,  she  was  never  formally  accused.9 

To  prevent  one's  case  from  progressing  to  the  seriousness  of  that  faced  by  the 
Bells,  one  could  call  on  professional  "witchmasters"  or  witch-hunters,  who  offered  their 
services  to  drive  out  witches  and  cure  the  supernatural  illnesses  inflicted  by  them.10  For 
less  serious  cases,  a  variety  of  home  remedies  were  readily  available.  For  instance,  a 
broom  lain  across  a  doorway  prevented  witches  from  entering.  Likewise,  sieves  hung  on 
the  doors  compelled  witches  to  pass  through  each  hole  before  entering  a  home,  usually 
convincing  them  to  look  elsewhere.  Despite  whites'  attempts  to  define  blacks  as 
superstitiously  backward  (and  many  blacks  ready  acceptance  of  this  proposition),  many 
whites  were  also  strongly  attached  to  supernaturalism." 

Popular  beliefs  about  European  witches  did  much  to  preserve  African  ideas  about 
workers  of  magic.  The  European  concept  of  witches'  pacts  with  Satan  reinforced  existing 
African  ideas  about  sorcerers,  who  often  obtained  their  powers  by  deals  with  evil  spirits. 
Moreover,  as  Zora  Neale  Hurston  and  Harry  Middleton  Hyatt  discovered,  at  least  some 
conjurers  made  the  satanic  pacts  of  which  they  were  accused.  European  witches' 
supposed  custom  of  meeting  in  groups  helped  preserve  African  concepts  of  witch 


9Fischer,  704-710;  Josiah  Henry  Combs,  "Sympathetic  Magic  in  the  Kentucky 
Mountains:  Some  Curious  Folk-survivals,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore  27  (1914): 
328-330;  Cross,  236-241. 

10In  the  Bell's  case,  the  witch-hunters  failed. 

"Fischer,  704-710;  Josiah  Henry  Combs,  "Sympathetic  Magic  in  the  Kentucky 
Mountains:  Some  Curious  Folk-survivals,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore  27  (1914): 
328-330;  Cross,  236-241;  Wyland  Hand,  ed.,  Popular  Beliefs  and  Superstitions  from 
North  Carolina,  vol.  7,  The  Frank  C.  Brown  Collection  of  North  Carolina  Folklore,  ed. 
Newman  Ivey  White  (Durham:  University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1964),  121-136. 


148 
societies.  Moreover,  the  coven  idea  doubtless  played  a  part  in  transforming  Africa's 
pervasive  men  and  women's  societies  into  true  secret  societies,  devoted  to  the  practice  of 
magic.  Whites  even  had  their  own  witchmasters,  who  operated  in  the  same  capacity  as 
African  witch  doctors.  This  fact  contributed  to  the  survival  of  the  notion  of  a  conjure 
doctor,  who  cured  those  who  had  been  harmed  by  hoodooists,  though  individuals  usually 
practiced  both  malevolent  and  benevolent  magic.12 

The  powers  and  practices  of  European  witches  likewise  shared  many  features  with 
African  magic  workers,  good  and  evil.  Most  notably,  European  witches  trafficked  in  the 
world  of  spirits,  usually  to  harm  their  victims.  In  Africa,  of  course,  witches  were  not  the 
only  ones  who  dealt  with  spirits.  Priests,  chiefs,  sorcerers,  and  members  of  other 
professions  did  so  as  well,  with  the  major  difference  in  their  practices  being  the  tier  of  the 
divine  hierarchy  that  they  addressed.  The  similar  beliefs  of  the  two  cultures  ensured  that 
virtually  all  conjurers,  regardless  of  the  source  of  their  powers,  claimed  to  control 
supernatural  entities,  ranging  from  the  exorcism  of  ghosts  to  the  ability  to  imbue  luck- 
balls  with  indwelling  spirits.  Also,  as  in  Europe,  African  witches  reputedly  engaged  in 
cannibalism,  though  their  brand  involved  the  eating  of  souls  rather  than  flesh.  Such 
beliefs  were  the  basis  for  Braziel  Robinson's  concern  that  his  two  good  spirits  could  be 
replaced  by  other  evil  human  spirits  he  might  inadvertently  meet.  African  and  European 
ideas  of  human  sacrifice  and  cannibalism  on  the  part  of  witches  also  supported  rumors 
that  Latin-area  Voodoo  queens  kept  murdered  children  in  their  homes.  Witches'  shape- 
shifting  abilities  were  also  present  in  both  cultures.  In  whites'  belief,  witches  frequently 


12Parrinder,  135-136,  165-168;  Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  390-391;  Hyatt, 
Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  97-111;  Gomez,  94-102;  Kennedy,  "Nanigo 
in  Florida,"  153-156;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  231. 


149 
transformed  themselves  into  cats,  rabbits,  and  other  animals.  African  witches  had  the 
power  to  become  cats,  owls,  and  bats.  This  ability,  though  not  common,  was  nevertheless 
possessed  by  some  conjurers,  such  as  Railroad  Bill,  the  legendary  outlaw/conjurer.13 

Other  European  magical  forms  likewise  reinforced  African  features  of  conjure. 
Most  notably,  charms  and  spells  were  easily  obtainable  from  "white"  witches.14  In  Great 
Britain,  such  specialists  were  commonly  known  as  "cunning"  men  and  women.  They 
specialized  in  finding  lost  property,  healing,  fortunetelling,  and  making  charms  for  luck, 
love,  and  protection.  Like  African- American  conjurers,  they  usually  charged  for  their 
services.  These  magical  specialists  survived  in  the  American  South.  Southern  whites  of 
all  social  classes  had  frequent  recourse  to  fortunetellers,  particularly  astrologers.  Others 
turned  to  white  witches  to  discover  underground  streams,  remove  curses,  and  perform  a 
variety  of  feats  traditionally  ascribed  to  European  white  witches.  A  variety  of  homemade 
magical  formulas  were  available  to  any  who  wanted  to  use  them.  For  example,  male 
Kentuckians  believed  that  giving  women  water  in  which  the  paddle  of  a  goose's  foot  had 
been  boiled  compelled  them  to  love  them.  Other  spells  purportedly  protected  crops, 
improved  the  health  of  livestock,  and  otherwise  bettered  the  lives  of  those  who  cast 
them.15 


13Parrinder,  135-136,  165-169;  Steiner,  "Braziel  Robinson  Possessed  of  Two 
Spirits,"  226-227;  Hand,  Popular  Beliefs  and  Superstitions,  121;  Tallant,  "Voodoo  in 
New  Orleans,"  88-97;  Cross,  236-241;  Carmer,  122-125. 

14I  use  the  term  "white  witch"  in  the  colloquial  sense  of  a  worker  of  benevolent 
magic. 

,5Thomas,  212-222,  231-252;  Combs,  330;  Hand,  Popular  Beliefs  and 
Superstitions,  155-182;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  74,  230;  Gainer,  112-120,  139-142. 


150 
Even  European  science  aided  the  survival  of  African  magic.  During  the  early 
colonial  period,  many  European  sciences  had  not  yet  developed  as  a  field  of  study  distinct 
from  religion  and  what  modern  scholars  call  magic.  Such  eminent  scientists  as  Isaac 
Newton  were  deeply  interested  in  alchemy,  chiefly  known  for  its  practitioners'  attempts 
to  transform  base  metals  into  gold.  According  to  Keith  Thomas,  author  of  Religion  and 
the  Decline  of  Magic,  belief  in  certain  types  of  what  is  now  seen  as  magic  was  taken  for 
granted  by  most  intellectuals.  At  the  heart  of  magic's  believability  was  the  idea  that  the 
universe  was  a  living  system,  peopled  by  a  hierarchy  of  spirits.  Furthermore,  it  operated 
through  a  series  of  correspondences  among  different  physical  parts  of  the  world.  In  this 
system,  each  human  was  a  microcosm  of  the  universe.  For  this  reason,  astrology  and 
related  fortunetelling  practices  were  not  necessarily  magic  to  intellectuals.  Instead,  if 
studied  carefully,  the  correspondence  between  the  movements  of  stars  and  planets  could 
conceivably  become  a  science  for  the  prediction  of  individuals'  futures.  Similarly,  when 
based  on  correspondences,  magic  was  an  effective  means  of  improving  one's  life  or 
harming  others.  What  seventeenth-century  intellectuals  described  as  science,  modern 
folklorists  and  anthropologists  define  as  a  European  form  of  sympathetic  magic.16 
In  the  field  of  medicine,  books  of  home  remedies  circulated  throughout  the 
colonial  and  antebellum  periods.  These  ranged  from  works  of  traditional  herbal 
treatments  for  ailments  to  treaties  which  purported  to  cure  disease  based  on  the  magical 
properties  of  plants,  animals,  stones,  and  planets.  One  of  the  more  well-known  of  the 


16B.  J.  T.  Dobbs,  The  Foundations  of  Newton 's  Alchemy:  or,  "The  Hunting  of  the 
Greene  Lyon  "  (Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press,  1975);  Thomas,  222-231.  See 
also  The  Complete  Book  of  Fortune:  How  to  Reveal  the  Secrets  of  the  Past,  the  Present 
and  the  Future  (Associated  Newspapers,  Ltd.,  1936;  republication,  New  York:  Crescent 
Books,  1990)  for  some  examples  of  European  fortunetelling  practices. 


151 
latter  was  Pow-Wows,  or  Long  Lost  Friend,  by  John  George  Hohman,  which  contained 
Pennsylvania  Amish  remedies  for  ills  ranging  from  bleeding  to  swelling  in  cattle.  One 
striking  example  of  the  magical  nature  of  Pow-Wows'  cures  was  the  remedy  for  fever, 
which  prescribed  writing  "Potmat  Sineat,  Potmat  Sineat,  Potmat  Sineaf'on  a  piece  of 
paper  and  then  wrapping  it  in  knot-grass.  To  complete  the  cure,  the  packet  was  to  be  tied 
to  the  body  of  the  afflicted.  Most  remedies  followed  the  Doctrine  of  Signatures,  the  folk 
healing  equivalent  of  seventeenth-century  intellectuals'  theory  of  correspondences  or 
modern  anthropology's  sympathetic  magic.  According  to  the  doctrine,  materials  within 
the  natural  world  indicated  their  properties  through  their  physical  appearance.  For 
example,  European  herbalists  believed  that  the  wild  pansy  was  a  potent  cardiac  tonic  due 
to  its  heart-shaped  leaves.17 

How  do  we  know  that  the  two  races  interacted  in  the  realm  of  the  supernatural? 
First,  whites  often  equated  African- American  magic  with  European  witchcraft.  During 
the  Salem  witch  scare,  at  least  three  of  the  accused  were  black.  Of  course,  it  was  the 
Tituba's  practice  of  Voodoo  which  ignited  the  panic  in  the  first  place.  More  important, 


17Thomas,  177-222;  Tallant,  "Chronology  of  Voodoo,"  245-254;  Oscar  Reiss, 
Medicine  in  Colonial  America  (Lanham,  New  York,  and  Oxford:  University  Press  of 
America,  Inc.,  2000),  183-232;  Elizabeth  Barnaby  Keeney,  "Unless  Powerful  Sick: 
Domestic  Medicine  in  the  Old  South,"  in  Science  and  Medicine  in  the  Old  South,  ed. 
Ronald  L.  Numbers  and  Todd  L.  Savitt  (Baton  Rouge  and  London:  Louisiana  State 
University  Press,  1989),  276-294;  Kay  K.  Moss,  Southern  Folk  Medicine,  1750-1820 
(Columbia:  University  of  South  Carolina,  1999);  John  George  Hohman,  Pow-Wows,  or 
Long  Lost  Friend:  A  Collection  of  Mysterious  and  Invaluable  Arts  and  Remedies  for  Man 
As  Well  As  Animals-With  Many  Proofs  (1855;  reprint,  Brooklyn:  Fulton  Religious 
Supply),  26;  David  Conway,  The  Magic  of  Herbs  (New  York:  E.  P.  Dutton  and  Company, 
Inc.,  1973),  27-30.  For  a  book  of  magical  cures  extant  during  the  early  colonial  period, 
see  Michael  R.  Best  and  Frank  H.  Brightman,  The  Book  of  Secrets  ofAlbertus  Magnus  of 
the  Virtues  of  Herbs,  Stones  and  Certain  Beasts-Also  a  Book  of  the  Marvels  of  the 
World,  Studies  in  Tudor  and  Stuart  Literature  series,  ed.  F.  H.  Mares  and  A.  T. 
Brissenden,  vol.  2  (Oxford  and  New  York:  Oxford  University  Press). 


152 
the  very  presence  of  European  charms  and  magical  worldviews  helped  insure  that  African 
charms  would  survive,  making  whites  potential  clients  for  black  conjurers.  Furthermore, 
the  universal  principle  of  sympathy  made  blacks'  magic  all  the  more  acceptable  to  the 
ruling  class.  As  a  consequence,  several  examples  of  white  participation  in  conjure  appear 
in  nineteenth-century  sources.  European- Americans  commonly  participated  in  Voodoo 
magical  rituals.  Charles  D.  Warner  reported  that  several  whites  attended  a  New  Orleans 
Voodoo  ceremony  that  he  witnessed.  He  was  shocked  to  learn  that  one  of  them  was  a 
"pure  white"  Episcopalian  from  the  American  section  of  the  city.  Having  described  her 
as  "pretty,  modest  girl,  very  reticent,  well-bred,  polite,  and  civil"  he  lamented  the  "deep 
hold  the  superstition  had  upon  her  nature."18  Whites  also  took  part  in  African-American 
magic  in  other  locales.  Aunt  Zippy  Tull  of  Maryland  served  European- American  clients. 
In  one  instance,  she  healed  a  white  woman  cursed  by  a  romantic  rival,  another  white 
female.19 

Just  as  whites  participated  in  African- American  magic,  so  did  blacks  take  part  in 
European- American  supernaturalism.  For  example,  Byrl  Anderson,  a  Tennessee  slave, 
reported  that  his  white  master  told  fortunes  using  a  Bible  suspended  on  a  string. 
According  to  Gladys-Marie  Fry,  slaveowners  fostered  respect  of  the  supernatural  to  make 
it  easier  to  control  their  slaves.  Masters'  virtually  unchecked  power  over  bondspersons 
was  a  strong  incentive  to  obedience  on  its  own.  A  slaveowner  possessing  occult  abilities 
was  even  more  fearsome.  Participation  in  whites'  supernaturalism  was  not  always  foisted 


18Warner,  68-69. 

19Timothy  J.  McMillan,  "Black  Magic:  Witchcraft,  Race,  and  Resistance  in 
Colonial  New  England,"  Journal  of  Black  Studies  25  (1994):  99-1 1 7;  Breslaw,  535-556; 
Warner,  64-74;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  5-6. 


153 
upon  blacks.  African-Americans  frequently  resorted  to  white  conjurers  in  times  of  need. 
The  first  Dr.  Buzzard  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  served  a  primarily  black  clientele.  The 
same  was  true  of  Dr.  Harris,  another  white  South  Carolinian  rootworker.  A  few  literate 
blacks  had  access  to  printed  magical  treatises,  which  they  used  alongside  African 
traditions.  Les  Secrets  Merveilleux  de  la  Magie  Naturelle  du  Petit  Albert,  a  French 
grimoire,  was  one  example.  It  was  long  popular  among  black  Louisianians,  who  knew  it 
as  the  'Tit  Albert?0 

The  Christian  faith,  which  did  much  to  undermine  conjure,  also  helped  to  preserve 
it.  As  mentioned  in  Chapter  3,  followers  of  Voodoo  and  Naftigo  kept  their  African  gods 
and  goddesses  alive  within  the  realm  of  Catholic  saints  (see  Chart  2).  These  were  not 
simply  African  gods  masked  with  saint  names,  though.  On  the  contrary,  certain  saints 
shared  their  personalities  with  African  gods,  effectively  becoming  a  single  being 
worshiped  in  two  different  ways,  depending  on  whether  the  Voodoo  devotee  was 
participating  in  a  St.  John's  Eve  dance  or  attending  mass.  In  most  cases,  the  merging  of 
the  pairs  originated  in  characteristics  shared  by  both  god  and  saint.  For  instance,  Blanc 
Dani,  the  Voodoo  snake  god,  shared  an  identity  with  St.  Michael  the  Archangel, 


20Yvonne  Chireau,  "Conjure  and  Christianity  in  the  Nineteenth  Century:  Religious 
Elements  in  African  American  Magic,"  Religion  and  American  Culture:  A  Journal  of 
Interpretation  1  (1997):  235;  Charles  Perdue,  Thomas  Barden,  and  Robert  Phillips, 
Weevils  in  the  Wheat:  Interviews  with  Virginia  Ex-slaves  (Charlottesville:  University 
Press  of  Virginia,  1976),  1 1 ;  Gladys-Marie  Fry,  Night  Riders  in  Black  Folk  History 
(Knoxville:  University  of  Tennessee  Press,  1975),  59-81;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  iii-iv;  Cable,  Grandissimes,  147-156;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants, 
16. 


154 
frequently  depicted  in  religious  iconography  battling  a  serpentine  Satan.21  Likewise,  St. 
Peter,  keeper  of  the  keys  of  heaven,  was  identical  with  Papa  Lebat,  the  linguist  god  who 
opened  the  door  to  other  deities  at  the  beginning  of  religious  rituals.22  The  Catholic 
practice  of  honoring  saints  with  holidays  and  statues  provided  foci  for  blacks'  worship  of 
the  gods,  analogous  to  African  practices,  which  frequently  employed  images  of  divinities 
and  festivals  in  their  honor.  For  example,  St.  John's  Eve  was  a  Catholic  holiday 
characterized  by  bonfires  and  visits  to  holy  bodies  of  water,  with  which  blacks  linked 
traditional  African  practices  of  ritual  bathing,  drumming,  singing,  and  dancing.23 
Table  2:  Selected  Gods  with  Catholic  Equivalents  in  the  Latin  South 


God  Names 

Catholic 
Equivalent 

Function  in  Latin  Cultural  Area 

Area  of 
Worship 

Bon  Dieu 

God 

Omnipotent  and  omniscient, 
supreme  being 

Louisiana 

Monsieur  Danny, 
Blanc  Dani,  Grand 
Zombie,  Voodoo 
Magnian 

St.  Michael 

Chief  god,  worshiped  in  the  form 
of  a  snake,  god  of  discord,  defeats 
enemies 

Louisiana  and 
Florida 

Papa  Lebat,  Liba, 
LaBas 

St.  Peter 

Trickster,  doorkeeper,  evil 

Louisiana 

Monsieur  Agoussou, 
Vert  Agoussou 

St.  Anthony 

God  of  love 

Louisiana 

2 'In  Haitian  Vodou,  Damballah  Ouedo,  the  equivalent  of  Monsieur  Danny,  was 
the  equivalent  of  Saint  Patrick,  due  to  the  saint's  association  with  serpents  in  Catholic 
iconography.  St.  Michael,  frequently  shown  defeating  a  serpentine  devil  in  religious  art, 
came  to  be  identified  with  Monsieur  Danny  in  a  similar  manner.  See  Hurston,  Tell  My 
Horse,  116. 


22* 


Satan,  to  whom  whites  often  attributed  all  conjure,  filled  a  position  similar  to  the 
saints  in  the  Latin  zone.  For  example,  Nanigo's  Elegba,  the  trickster  god,  was  identical 
with  the  devil.  The  same  may  have  occasionally  been  true  for  Papa  Lebat,  who  was  also 
sometimes  regarded  as  an  evil  god. 

"Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  182;  Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Jacobs  and  Kaslow, 
82-92;  Hauptmann,  197-200;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  50-51. 


155 


Table  2.     Continued 

God  Names  Catholic  Function  in  Latin  Cultural  Area  Area  of 

Equivalent  Worship 

Elegba  The  devil  Evil  spirit  Florida 

Shango  St.  Barbara  Spirit  of  good  and  evil,  justice,  Florida 

and  thunder 

Yemaya  Virgin  of  Regla  Spirit  of  the  air  and  sea  Florida 

SOURCES:  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  3-96;  Cable,  The  Grandissimes,  99,  101,  135,  182,  184,  257,  272, 
311, 447,  453-456, 468;  Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Cable,  "Creole  Slave  Songs,"  807-828;  Cable,  "The 
Dance  in  Place  Congo,"  517-532;  Jacobs  and  Kaslow,  82-92;  Murphy,  77;  Brandon,  Santeria;  Metraux, 
28,  31,  100-119;  Hauptmann,  197-200. 

NOTE:  There  is  little  information  on  the  saint  equivalents  of  African- American  Floridians'  gods.  As  a 
result,  the  equivalents  come  from  works  on  the  closely-related  Cuban  Santeria.  The  exception  to  this  rule 
is  Elegba.  In  Cuba,  where  Santeria  developed,  Elegba  was  much  less  sinister.  Cubans  identified  him  with 
the  Holy  Child  of  Atoche,  an  aspect  of  Jesus,  or  St.  Anthony  of  Padua.  See  Brandon,  77,  and  Murphy,  42- 
43. 


In  the  Anglo  zone,  where  the  Great  Awakenings  largely  eradicated  the  African 
faiths,  God  took  on  the  attributes  of  Africa's  lesser  deities,  becoming  a  powerful  source 
of  magical  powers  (see  Chapter  4).  God's  position  within  conjure  mirrored  His  place  in 
the  religious  life  of  blacks:  He  superseded  all  other  spiritual  forces.  The  mere  presence  of 
Christian  belief  in  the  supernatural  helped  African  magic  to  survive  by  providing  a 
foundation  for  its  practice.24 

European  beliefs  did  more  than  just  help  African  magic  survive.  On  the  contrary, 
it  made  its  own  unique  contributions  to  conjure.  The  most  readily  apparent  European 
influence  was  in  the  terminology  of  conjure.  In  the  Latin  zone,  African  terms  like 
"hoodoo"  and  "wanga"  were  more  popular  than  European  words  to  describe  African- 
American  magic,  but  in  the  Anglo  zone,  the  situation  was  much  different.  There,  they 
were  usually  known  as  "conjurers,"  an  English  term  referring  to  those  who  used 


24 Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-22.  See  also  Smith,  Conjuring 
Culture. 


156 
incantations  to  call  up  and  control  spirits,  a  concept  adopted  from  Jewish  Kabbala. 
Hoodooists'  abilities  to  perform  similar  feats  led  them  to  adopt  the  title.  The  less 
common  use  of  "witch"  to  signify  African- American  sorcerers  likewise  arose  from  a 
situation  in  which  blacks'  reputed  magical  powers  mirrored  that  of  their  European 
counterparts.  Less  common  titles  like  "high  man,"  "high  woman,"  and  "cunning  doctor" 
replicated  English  terms  for  white  witches.  Another  rare  term,  "pow-wow  doctor" 
hearkened  back  to  the  Pennsylvania  German  magical  tradition,  known  as  powwow.  The 
best  published  representative  of  these  folk  customs  was  the  Pow-Wows  of  John  George 
Hohman,  or  to  give  his  proper  name,  Johann  Georg  Hohman.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
Amish  remedies  had  spread  throughout  the  Anglo  South  by  the  mid- 1800s  but  were  most 
common  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  due  to  their  proximity  to  Pennsylvania.25 

Europe  contributed  more  than  just  words  to  hoodoo.  In  the  Latin  cultural  area, 
Roman  Catholicism  deeply  affected  the  shape  of  hoodoo  rituals.  Charles  D.  Warner's 
account  of  a  Voodoo  ceremony  clearly  demonstrated  the  impact  of  European  Christianity. 
The  most  notable  feature  of  the  room  in  which  the  ritual  took  place  was  an  altar 
surmounted  by  a  statuette  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  candles,  all  explicitly  Catholic  symbols. 
While  altars  were  common  in  Africa,  black  Louisianans  abandoned  their  traditional 
forms,  which  often  took  the  shape  of  the  deity  worshiped  through  its  use,  in  favor  of  the 


25Pennethorne  Hughes,  Witchcraft  (Longmans,  Green,  1952;  Hammondsworth  and 
Baltimore:  Penguin  Books,  1973),  154,  165;  Levack,  33;  Arthur  Edward  Waite,  The  Book 
of  Ceremonial  Magic:  The  Secret  in  Goetia,  with  a  Foreword  by  John  C.  Wilson  (New 
York:  Citadel  Press,  1994),  236-296;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  74,  121,  230;  Moss, 
153-154;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo  -  Conjuration  -  Witchcraft  -  Rootwork,  11,17,  275,  278,  280- 
281,  284,  308,  310,  314,  336,  337;  Annie  Weston  Whitney  and  Caroline  Canfield 
Bullock,  Folk-Lore  from  Maryland  (New  York:  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  1925),  81- 
83;S.,28. 


157 
rectangular  one  of  Catholicism.  Upon  or  surrounding  the  altar  were  often  offerings  of 
food  for  the  saints/gods.  In  other  cases,  the  altar  held  different  forms  of  offerings, 
including  money,  alcohol,  and  other  items  favored  by  the  deity  being  entreated.  Perhaps 
the  most  common  offerings,  however,  were  candles.  Long  used  in  Catholic  rituals 
honoring  God  and  the  saints,  they  were  easily  adapted  to  dealings  with  the  deities  of  Latin 
zone  hoodoo.  In  African- American  magic,  however,  candles  were  a  way  to  please  deities, 
usually  by  choosing  colors  favored  by  particular  gods/saints.  For  example,  when  seeking 
help  in  matters  of  finance,  one  would  burn  a  green  candle,  sympathetically  linked  to 
money  by  its  color.  Assonquer,  the  god  of  good  fortune,  would  respond.  If  the  candle 
sputtered,  his  aid  was  unlikely.  To  deal  with  enemies,  black  candles  were  the  color  of 
choice.  Catholic  statues,  like  the  one  seen  by  Warner,  indicated  the  god/saint  being 
honored  by  the  offerings.26 

In  the  Latin  zone  of  the  American  South,  many  of  the  beings  honored  with  altars 
and  candles  in  hoodoo  were  of  European  origin.  Alongside  deities  with  shared  African- 
European  roots,  like  Blanc  Dani/St.  Peter  and  Papa  Lebat/St.  Michael,  were  a  variety  of 
orthodox  Catholic  saints  without  any  overt  link  to  specific  African  gods  and  goddesses. 
For  example,  the  Virgin  Mary,  whose  statuette  surmounted  the  altar  observed  by  Warner, 
was  widely  honored  in  hoodoo  rituals  but  apparently  assigned  no  counterpart  from  the 
pantheon  of  Louisiana's  Voodoo  goddesses.  Despite  her  important  role  in  Catholic 
belief,  she  took  a  prominent  position  in  several  magical  rituals.  According  to  Helen 


26Warner,  64-74;  Cable,  Grandissimes,  100-101;  Pitkin,  193;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo- 
Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  797-862;  Greg  Dues,  Catholic  Customs  and 
Traditions:  A  Popular  Guide,  revised  ed.  (Mystic:  Twenty-third  Publications,  1992),  186- 
188.  See  also  Thompson,  Face  of  the  Gods,  for  a  discussion  of  African-style  altars. 


158 
Pitkin's  account  of  another  hoodoo  ritual,  the  ceremony  opened  with  a  "Hail  Mary." 
There  followed  invocations  to  a  variety  of  Voodoo  gods,  including  Blanc  Dani  and  Liba. 
Returning  to  Catholic  antecedents,  the  ritual  ended  with  the  "Litany  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin."  Other  saints  commonly  appeared  in  rites  designed  to  persuade  them  to  serve  the 
will  of  the  conjurer.  St.  Rita,  patron  of  desperate  cases  due  to  her  experience  of  abuse  at 
the  hands  of  a  brutal  husband,  was  popular  amongst  women.  One  of  Hyatt's  informants 
explained  that  St.  Rita  was  bad  luck  to  women  with  husbands,  but  helped  those  without 
them.  Men,  however,  need  not  seek  her  aid.  As  the  informer  put  it,  "she  won't  do 
anything  for  men  at  all  because  she  don't  like  them."27  Another  informant  told  Hyatt  how 
women  could  convince  her  to  grant  wishes.  Suppliants  placed  a  white  candle,  flowers, 
and  money  before  a  picture  of  the  saint.  She  then  approached  the  altar  on  nine 
consecutive  mornings,  asking  that  the  wish  be  granted.28  At  the  end  of  the  period,  St.  Rita 
would  do  as  she  was  asked.  St.  Raymond,  St.  Ann,  St.  Roc,  and  even  Jesus  Himself  were 
parties  to  conjurers'  acts.29 

One  Christian  contribution  which  reached  beyond  the  Latin  zone  was  the  Bible. 
As  a  book  from  God,  it  became  an  important  magical  text  throughout  the  South. 
According  to  Zora  Neale  Hurston,  it  was  "the  great  conjure  book  in  the  world."30  For 


27Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  880-888. 

28Bear  in  mind  that  nine  was  a  popular  number  in  hoodoo,  especially  in  the 
Louisiana  area. 

29Warner,  64-74;  Pitkin,  185-210;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft- 
Rootwork,  872,  877-888;  David  Hugh  Farmer,  The  Oxford  Dictionary  of  Saints,  3rd  ed. 
(Oxford  and  New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1992),  s.  v.  "Rita  of  Cascia." 

30Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  280. 


159 
William  Adams,  it  was  a  manual  for  potential  conjurers,  teaching  them  to  drive  out  evil 

spirits  by  prayer.  Others  used  selections  from  the  Bible  in  their  spells.31  Conjurers  chose 

verses  for  their  clients  based  on  passages'  similarity  to  the  result  to  be  accomplished, 

keeping  within  the  rules  of  sympathetic  magic.  For  example,  conjurers'  and  their  clients 

could  successfully  deal  with  unwilling  tradesmen  if  they  read  Psalm  56  three  times  before 

bed  and  again  before  sunrise.  Both  readings  were  to  be  carried  out  while  facing  east. 

Psalm  56,  one  of  David's  prayers  for  deliverance  while  at  the  mercy  of  the  Philistines, 

was  an  excellent  choice  in  such  situations.  In  other  cases,  the  power  of  the  Bible  went 

beyond  its  words.  According  to  one  of  Hyatt's  informants,  "the  law"  could  be  kept  away 

by  placing  a  page  from  the  Bible  over  one's  door,  held  in  place  with  nine  needles.32 

Not  all  of  the  European  features  of  conjure  came  from  the  Christian  faith  (see 

Chart  3).  Others  came  from  European  supernaturalism.  Charms  for  protection  and  luck, 

which  appeared  throughout  both  cultural  zones,  were  the  most  plentiful  of  this  class.  For 

example,  one  of  the  strongest  protective  charms  among  nineteenth-century  blacks  was  the 

horseshoe.  According  to  Elihu,  a  South  Carolinian  slave,  a  horseshoe  hung  over  the 

entrance  to  a  home  thwarted  witches'  attempts  to  ride  sleepers.  This  practice  was  a 

wholesale  import  from  England.  Reginald  Scot's  1584  book,  The  Discoverie  of 

Witchcraft,  recorded  that  one  of  the  chief  methods  of  keeping  witches  out  of  homes  was 


For  the  following  examples,  I  rely  on  Hyatt's  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft- 
Rootwork  due  to  the  lack  of  sources  detailing  the  passages  tied  to  particular  results. 

32 Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-19;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  523,  673.  See  also  Smith,  esp.  3-15.  In  Conjuring  Culture,  Smith 
argued  that  African- Americans  chose  their  verses  based  on  the  genre  of  the  particular 
book.  For  instance,  Exodus  was  used  for  "conjuring-God-for-freedom,"  while  the 
gospels  were  more  useful  for  "curing  violence." 


160 
"to  naille  a  horsse  shoo  at  the  inside  of  the  outmost  threshhold  of  your  house."33  Rabbit's 
feet  were  a  popular  charm  for  luck  and  protection  among  nineteenth-century  blacks.  Like 
horseshoes,  however,  their  use  originated  in  Europe.  In  Britain,  those  who  carried  the 
unfortunate  creature's  limb  gained  good  luck  and  were  safe  from  muscular  cramps, 
cholic,  arthritis,  and  attacks  by  evil  spirits.34 

Horseshoes  and  rabbits'  feet  were  well-known  lucky  charms  employed  by  both 
blacks  and  whites,  but  other  items  of  European  origin  came  to  be  tied  almost  wholly  to 
blacks.  For  instance,  cinquefoil,  long  recognized  as  a  demon  and  witch  repellent,  came  to 
be  known  as  five  finger  grass  among  African- Americans.  Much  more  common  among 
blacks  than  whites,  its  possessors  variously  employed  it  as  a  protective  device,  a  cure  for 
conjure,  and  a  charm  for  drawing  money.35  Even  John  the  Conqueror,  most  famous  of 
African- American  root  charms,  was  at  least  partially  European  in  origin.  While  the  idea 
of  John  the  Conqueror  was  a  descendant  of  African  concepts,  like  the  Kongo  minkisi,  the 
roots  used  in  Africa  did  not  always  grow  in  the  United  States.  As  a  result,  one  of  John 
the  Conqueror's  earliest  American  forms  emerged  from  European  herbalism.  Mary 


"Reginald  Scot,  The  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft,  with  an  Introduction  by  Hugh  Ross 
Williamson  (Carbondale:  Southern  Illinois  University  Press,  1964),  227,  230 

34"The  Religious  Life  of  the  Negro  Slave,"  822;  Scot,  227,  230;  Lucy  Kimball, 
interview  by  Francois  Ludgere  Diard  (Mobile,  AL,  May  7,  1937),  The  American  Slave:  A 
Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport,  CT:  Greenwood 
Publishing  Company,  1977),  supplement  1,  vol.  1,  230;  Iona  Opie  and  Moira  Tatem,  eds., 
A  Dictionary  of  Superstitions  (Oxford  and  New  York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1989), 
193-194. 


35 


The  last  function  most  likely  arose  from  its  resemblance  to  a  green  hand. 


161 
Alicia  Owen,  identified  the  nineteenth-century  form  of  Conquer- John  as  Solomon's  Seal 
{Polygonatum  multiflorum),  a  plant  long  known  in  Europe  for  its  medicinal  properties.36 

Blacks  also  used  European  magic  in  more  than  just  the  making  of  charms.  For 
instance,  playing  cards  were  often  used  in  fortunetelling  and  the  diagnosis  of  magical 
illnesses,  a  practice  common  in  Europe  for  centuries.  Some  blacks  employed  a  divination 
system  supposedly  used  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  which  centered  around  the  interpretation 
of  self-made  dots  on  a  paper.  Malevolent  magic  likewise  found  its  way  from  Europe  to 
African- American  hoodooists.  The  pillow  magic  of  Latin-area  conjurers  was  one  notable 
European  contribution.  German  settlers,  in  particular,  believed  that  witches  hexed  beds 
and  pillows,  causing  wreathes  or  animal  shapes  to  form  in  their  feather  stuffings.  Once 
the  figures  were  fully  formed,  those  who  slept  in  the  bed  would  die.  European  witches 
also  bequeathed  the  power  of  the  "evil  eye"  to  their  African- American  brethren.  Blacks 
with  the  power  of  the  evil  eye  could  cause  illness  or  otherwise  harm  people  simply  by 
looking  at  them.  Nevertheless,  a  surefire  protection  was  the  knuckle  bone  of  a  pig, 


carried  in  the  pocket.37 


36Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  279;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft- 
Rootwork,  440-441,  553-554;  Johann  Weyer,  Witches,  Devils,  and  Doctors  in  the 
Renaissance,  trans,  by  John  Shea,  introduction  and  notes  by  George  Mora,  and  with  a 
Foreward  by  John  Weber  (Binghampton:  Medieval  &  Renaissance  Texts  and  Studies, 
1991),  424;  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  1 13;  M.  Grieve,  A  Modern  Herbal:  The  Medical, 
Culinary,  Cosmetic  and  Economic  Properties,  Cultivation,  and  Folk-Lore  of  Herbs, 
Grasses,  Fungi,  Shrubs  &  Trees  with  All  Their  Modern  Scientific  Uses,  with  an 
Introduction  by  C.  F.  Leyel  and  an  Index  of  Scientific  Names  by  Manya  Marshall  (New 
York:  Dover  Publications,  Inc.,  1971),  749-450. 

"Carrie  Pollard,  interview  by  Ruby  Pickens  Tartt  (Livingston,  AL,  May  23,  1937), 
The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport, 
CT:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1973),  vol.  6,  319;  Complete  Book  of  Fortune,  13- 
57,  250-268;  Aunt  Sally 's  Policy  Players '  Dream  Book  and  Wheel  of  Fortune  (New  York: 
H.  J.  Wehman,  1889;  Los  Angeles:  Indio  Products,  Inc.),  52-61;  M.  P.  Handy,  666;  Hyatt, 


162 
But  how  did  blacks  learn  the  magic  of  the  white  ruling  class?  Throughout  the 
antebellum  period,  whites  and  blacks  came  into  frequent  contact  as  masters  and  slaves. 
House  servants,  who  typically  lived  in  the  homes  of  their  owners,  were  in  constant 
association  with  whites.  This  situation  continued  into  the  late  nineteenth  century. 
Observation  alone  would  allow  blacks  to  learn  many  of  the  ruling  class'  supernatural 
practices.  Individuals  of  mixed  European  and  African  ancestry  had  even  greater 
opportunity  of  learning  magic  from  white  parents,  and  despite  the  racial  assumptions  of 
the  period,  miscegenation  was  far  from  uncommon.  Slave  masters  throughout  the  South 
sometimes  treated  their  female  slaves  as  sexual  objects.  In  New  Orleans,  "quadroon 
balls"  helped  young  white  men  to  meet  mixed-race  women,  often  for  the  purpose  of 
concubinage.  The  result  was  a  large  mulatto  community  in  the  city.  Similar  situations 
prevailed  in  Charleston  and  other  large  cities.  Late  nineteenth-century  whites'  awareness 
of  the  secretive  practices  of  black  conjure  testify  to  the  permeability  of  the  racial  barrier.38 

Whites  and  blacks  sometimes  intentionally  taught  each  other  their  magic.  The 
presence  of  white  witches  and  conjurers,  the  latter  of  whom  catered  to  a  black  clientele, 
were  one  way  in  which  the  races  exchanged  information.  During  the  1920s,  Newbell 
Niles  Puckett,  a  white  male,  began  to  practice  conjure  in  order  to  learn  more  of  African- 
American  magic.  Referring  to  his  time  as  a  hoodooist,  he  wrote,  "Even  conjurers  are  not 
without  their  professional  spirit,  and  I  found  them  quite  willing  to  swap  clinical 


Folk-Lorefrom  Adams  County  Illinois,  488-498;  Philippa  Waring,  The  Dictionary  of 
Omens  &  Superstitions,  1986  ed.  (Secaucus:  Chartwell  Books,  Inc.,  1986),  s.  v.  "Evil 
Eye,"  87-88;  Sara  Handy,  739. 

38Gary  B.  Nash,  Red,  White  and  Black:  The  Peoples  of  Early  North  America,  4th 
ed.  (Upper  Saddle  River,  New  Jersey:  Prentice  Hall,  2000),  174-175,  303-308;  Saxon, 
Tallant,  and  Dreyer,  159-160. 


163 
knowledge  and  even  materia  medica  with  one,  once  they  believed  him  to  be  a  'rale  trick- 
doctor.'"39  Doubtless,  many  African- American  conjurers  learned  European  magic 
through  similar  exchanges.  Those  African- Americans  who  visited  white  conjurers,  like 
the  first  Dr.  Buzzard  or  Dr.  Harris,  certainly  gleaned  tidbits  of  the  magical  art.  However 
acquired,  European  practices  had  transformed  conjure  by  the  end  of  the  century.  No 
longer  was  hoodoo  an  African  practice.40 

While  popular  authors  and  television  producers  have  typically  minimized 
European  contributions,  Native  Americans'  impact  on  conjure  has  rarely  even  been 
acknowledged.  Nevertheless,  blacks  have  interacted  with  American  Indians  almost  as 
long  as  they  have  with  Europeans.  Whenever  whites  and  blacks  moved  into  a  new  area, 
they  encountered  aboriginal  peoples.  Furthermore,  as  two  peoples  persecuted  by 
European  immigrants,  blacks  and  Indians  often  made  common  cause  against  their 
oppressors.  The  first  to  do  so  were  black  slaves,  who  escaped  from  a  Spanish  expedition 
up  the  Carolina  coast  in  1526,  living  out  their  lives  among  the  Guale  people.  When  the 
descendants  of  the  same  people,  known  as  Yamasee  by  that  time,  revolted  against  English 
South  Carolina  in  1715,  runaway  slaves  fought  at  their  side.  Despite  defeat,  the  Yamasee 
refused  to  surrender  their  black  comrades.  Creeks,  Cherokees,  and  other  Native 
American  peoples  likewise  accepted  black  runaways  into  their  society.    Flight  to  the 
Indians  remained  a  viable  option  for  slaves  well  into  the  antebellum  period.  The  best 


39 


Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  206. 

40Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  206;  Moss,  152-162;  Hand,  Popular  Beliefs  and 
Superstitions,  113,  151,  155-157;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  iii- 
iv;  Chireau,  "Conjure  and  Christianity,"  225-246;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  16;  Cable, 
Grandissimes,  147-156. 


164 
known  instance  of  black-Indian  mixing  was  that  of  Florida's  Seminoles,  who  welcomed 
African- Americans  as  part  of  their  tribe.  Fugitive  slaves  were  so  numerous  in  Seminole 
territory  that  the  United  States  began  a  series  of  three  wars  against  them  in  July  1816  for 
the  purpose  of  closing  off  Florida  to  runaways  and  recapturing  those  blacks  already  living 
among  the  Indians.  At  the  same  time,  African-Americans  augmented  the  Seminoles' 
capacity  to  resist  the  American  military.  According  to  legend,  an  escaped  African 
conjurer,  called  Uncle  Monday,  aided  the  Seminoles  in  their  wars.  Following  a  defeat  on 
the  shores  of  Lake  Maitland,  he  refused  to  submit  to  slavery  and  escaped  in  the  form  of  an 
alligator.  Those  not  so  gifted  as  Uncle  Monday,  however,  submitted  to  the  United  States 
and  resettled  in  the  Indian  Territory  (modern  Oklahoma).  Even  after  their  defeat,  blacks 
accompanied  the  tribe  into  exile,  remaining  there  throughout  the  century.41 

Not  all  blacks  who  lived  among  American  Indians  were  fugitives.  Many  were 
slaves  to  Indian  masters.  Nineteenth-century  traveler  Henry  C.  Benson  stated  that 
Choctaws  turned  to  slavery  as  depleted  hunting  grounds  forced  them  into  agriculture. 
According  to  Benson,  Choctaws  despised  manual  labor  to  such  a  degree  that  he  stated, 
"even  very  poor  Indians  will  manage  to  get  possession  of  one  or  two  negroes  to  perform 
their  heavy  work."42  Seminoles,  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  and  many  other  peoples 
likewise  adopted  slavery  during  the  colonial  and  antebellum  eras,  taking  their  human 


41Nash,  170-171,  308-314;  Edwin  C.  McReynolds,  The  Seminoles  (Norman: 
University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1957),23,  48,  179,  185,  263,  302-312;  Charles  Hudson, 
The  Southeastern  Indians  (Knoxville:  University  of  Tennessee  Press,  1976),  465-467; 
Kennedy,  Palmetto  Country,  131-133. 

42Henry  Clark  Benson,  Life  among  the  Choctaw  Indians  and  Sketches  of  the 
South-west,  with  an  introduction  by  T.  A.  Morris  (Cincinnati:  L.  Swormstedt  &  A.  Poe, 
1860;  reprint,  Johnson  Reprint  Corporation,  1970),  34. 


165 
chattel  with  them  upon  their  removal  to  the  Indian  Territory.  More  important  than  black 
slaves'  presence  among  American  Indians,  however,  was  the  comparative  freedom 
allowed  them  in  Native  American  society  as  opposed  to  that  of  whites.  Seminoles,  who 
gave  their  slaves  the  greatest  liberty,  allowed  bondsmen  and  bondswomen  to  live  as  they 
wished  as  long  as  they  paid  a  portion  of  their  agricultural  produce  each  year.  Henry  Bibb 
attested  to  similarly  benevolent  treatment  among  the  Cherokees  of  the  Indian  Territory. 
Having  been  purchased  by  a  wealthy  Cherokee  planter,  one  of  his  first  tasks  was  to  carry 
$500  of  his  new  master's  money  on  a  lengthy  journey  with  minimal  supervision.  Bibb 
further  testified  that  overseers  were  unknown  on  Native  American  plantations. 
Whippings  and  other  forms  of  punishment  were  rare,  and  when  slaves  resisted,  their 
owners  had  no  legal  recourse.  He  concluded  by  saying,  "I  had  by  far,  rather  be  a  slave  to 
an  Indian,  than  to  a  white  man,  from  the  experience  I  have  had  with  both."43  Under  such 
conditions,  cultural  exchange  with  the  ruling  class  was  easy.44 

According  to  nineteenth-century  scholar  James  Mooney,  a  common 
misconception  about  Native  Americans  was  they  knew  "every  plant  of  the  field  and 
forest,  and  that  the  medicine  man  outranks  the  white  physician  in  his  knowledge  of  the 
healing  art."45  Whether  true  or  not,  American  Indians'  reputed  powers  over  disease  and 


43Bibb,  153. 

"Benson,  34;  Hudson,  457,  461,  465-466,  469;  Bibb,  150-153. 

45  James  Mooney,  "Cherokee  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,"  Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore  3  (1890):  44.  So  great  was  native  Americans'  reputation  for 
medicinal  lore  that  "Indian  doctor"  was  a  term  used  by  many  whites  to  designate  all 
practitioners  of  herbalism.  Dr.  John  was  sometimes  known  as  one.  The  title  was  likely 
inspired,  at  least  in  part,  by  the  herbal  manual,  The  Indian  Doctor's  Dispensatory.  See 
Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  44-45;  Peter  Smith,  The  Indian  Doctor 's  Dispensatory 
(Cincinnati:  Browne  and  Looker,  1813). 


166 
illness  made  knowledge  of  their  arts  a  useful  marketing  tool  in  the  hands  of  black 

conjurers.  For  instance,  former  slave  Joseph  William  Carter  reported  that  he  had  learned 
"Voodoo"  from  his  cousin,  a  full-blooded  Indian.  His  cousin  was  so  well  known  that 
both  blacks  and  whites  called  on  him  for  healing.  Even  better  than  knowledge,  however, 
was  Native  American  ancestry.  Notable  New  Orleans  conjurers,  including  Marie  Laveau, 
could  claim  Native  American  forebears.  The  practice  of  claiming  Indian  blood  reached 
its  height  in  Missouri,  however,  where  blacks  easily  mingled  with  the  peoples  on  the 
borders  of  white  settlement  as  well  as  the  "Five  Civilized  Tribes"  removed  from  the  Deep 
South  to  the  Indian  Territory.  Mary  Alicia  Owen  spoke  to  many  who  claimed  Native 
American  ancestry,  tracing  their  roots  to  such  peoples  as  the  Lenni  Lenape,  Iowa,  and 
Fox.  King  Alexander,  the  greatest  conjurer  encountered  by  Owen,  was  half  Cherokee, 
half  "Guinea."46 

While  European  beliefs  often  worked  against  African  ideas,  Native  American 
religion  did  little  to  undermine  blacks'  ancestral  practices.  On  the  contrary,  Indian 
religions  strongly  resembled  those  of  West  and  West  Central  Africa.  Among  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  Southeast,  belief  in  a  supreme  being  who  ruled  the  universe 
while  remaining  distant  from  humankind  was  common.  Below  the  supreme  god  were  a 
number  of  lesser  gods  or  spirits.  Among  the  Cherokee,  the  most  widespread  southern 
tribe,  the  universe  was  composed  of  three  levels:  the  Upper  World,  This  World,  and  the 


46Joseph  William  Carter,  interview  by  Launa  Creel  (Vanderburgh  County,  IN), 
The  American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport, 
CT:  Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1973),  supplement  6,  vol.  2,  47;  Mary  Owen, 
Voodoo  Tales,  3,  6,  8;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  241;  Jason  Berry,  The  Spirit 
of  Black  Hawk:  A  Mystery  of  Africans  and  Indians  (Jackson:  University  Press  of 
Mississippi,  1995),  97-101. 


167 

Under  World.47  The  inhabitants  of  the  Upper  and  Under  worlds  mirrored  the  lesser  gods 
of  Africa.  The  greatest  beings  came  from  the  Upper  World,  characterized  by  order, 
stability,  and  time  past.  Some  of  the  most  important  of  these  were  the  sun,  moon,  and 
thunders.  The  Under  World,  in  contrast,  contained  monsters  and  ghosts.  Though 
fearsome  and  unpredictable,  they  also  were  responsible  for  innovation,  fertility,  and 
future  time.  Native  Americans  lived  in  This  World.  Under  World  creatures,  including 
reptiles,  amphibians,  and  fish,  sometimes  emerged  from  caves,  rivers,  and  lakes,  to  harm 
humans.  For  a  time,  the  beings  of  the  Upper  World  lived  in  This  World.  As  it  became 
gradually  less  desirable,  they  returned  to  the  Upper  World,  leaving  behind  lesser  images 
of  themselves  in  the  form  of  plants  and  animals.  Birds  continued  to  be  associated  with 
the  Upper  World,  however,  due  to  their  ability  to  fly.  While  plants  befriended  humans, 
animals  became  their  enemies.  Balance  in  the  world  and  within  individual  humans 
required  balancing  elements  from  the  Upper  and  Under  worlds,  for  which  the  Cherokee 
turned  to  these  living  shadows  of  the  divine.  As  in  African  and  some  European  beliefs, 
each  living  thing  (and  sometimes  inanimate  objects  or  natural  features)  had  a  soul  which 
gave  it  the  power  to  help  or  harm  those  who  dealt  with  it.  Also,  the  use  of  animals  and 
plants  followed  the  principal  of  sympathy.  For  example,  buzzards  were  symbolically 
linked  to  healing  because  of  their  ability  to  associate  with  dead  creatures  without  ill 


47  . 


Although  the  Cherokee  were  but  one  of  the  many  peoples  who  encountered 
African- Americans,  their  cosmology  was  typical  of  the  southeastern  religious  beliefs. 
Moreover,  during  the  nineteenth  century,  significant  numbers  of  Cherokees  had  lived  in  a 
majority  of  the  southern  states,  including  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Kentucky, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  West  Virginia,  Arkansas,  Texas,  and 
Oklahoma.  A  few  escaped  removal  to  the  Indian  Territory  by  fleeing  to  Mexico,  where 
their  descendants  still  dwell.  Others  managed  to  remain  in  the  Southeast.  See  James 
Mooney,  Myths  of  the  Cherokee  and  Sacred  Formulas  of  the  Cherokees  (Nashville: 
Charles  and  Randy  Elder-Booksellers,  1982),  14-181. 


168 
effects.  Due  to  their  use  and  place  on  earth,  animals  and  plants  were  analogous  to  the 
three  lowest  tiers  of  the  northern  West  African  spiritual  hierarchy  and  the  minkisi  of  the 
Kongo.  Many  Native  Americans  also  worshiped  their  ancestors.  For  Cherokees,  this  was 
a  minor  feature  of  their  faith,  expressed  primarily  in  respectful  treatment  of  the  dead  to 
avoid  ghostly  reprisals.  Among  other  peoples,  the  dead  served  as  guardian  spirits, 
intermediaries  between  humans  and  lesser  gods,  and  manipulators  of  natural 
phenomena.48 

Alongside  Catholicism,  late  slave  importation,  and  high  black-to-white  ratios,  the 
proximity  of  Indians  practicing  traditional  religions  helped  ensure  that  the  western  Latin 
cultural  area  would  retain  strong  African  religious  elements.  The  best  illustration  of  the 
interaction  between  Native  American  and  African  beliefs  was  the  survival  of  the  African 
snake  god,  Da.  As  was  the  case  with  Voodoo's  gods/saints,  Da's  identity  merged  with 
that  of  Indian  deities.  Snake  gods  and  spirits  were  plentiful  in  the  beliefs  of  southeastern 
Indians.  Chief  among  the  beings  of  the  Under  World  was  a  giant  creature,  known  as 
Uktena  to  the  Cherokees.  Combining  physical  elements  resembling  animals  symbolic  of 
the  Under,  Upper,  and  This  worlds,  it  had  a  snakelike  body,  wings,  and  antlers.  Living  in 
enmity  with  the  Upper  World,  it  eventually  fell  to  a  hawk-like  deity,  called  Tlanuwa.  A 
variety  of  other  serpentine  creatures  from  the  Under  World  also  interacted  with  the 
human  world.  Because  of  their  lack  of  appendages,  Indians  set  snakes  apart  from  other 
animals,  crediting  them  with  power  over  other  animals,  plants,  and  the  elements. 


48Hudson,  127-132,  169-173;  Denise  Lardner  Carmody  and  John  Tully  Carmody, 
Native  American  Religions:  An  Introduction  (New  York  and  Mahwah:  Paulist  Press, 
1993),  15-40;  Ake  Hultkrantz,  Belief  and  Worship  in  Native  North  America,  ed.  and  with 
an  Introduction  by  Christopher  Vecsey  (Syracuse:  Syracuse  University  Press,  1981),  91- 
114. 


169 
Mightiest  of  all  was  rattlesnake.  Once,  he  had  saved  humankind  from  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  sun,  who  had  tried  to  wipe  them  out  with  disease.  Thus,  rattlesnake  was  more 
powerful  than  Uktena,  who  had  failed  when  he  opposed  the  Upper  World.  In  the  western 
Latin  area,  the  prevalence  of  snakes  was  a  powerful  force  in  preserving  African  serpent 
gods.  Native  American  mythology  validated  Louisiana  blacks'  faith  in  Blanc  Dani. 
Missouri  hoodooists  went  so  far  as  to  specifically  designate  the  rattlesnake  as  their  most 
powerful  spirit,  whom  they  honored  with  dances.  Moreover,  they  referred  to  him  as 
"Grandfather"  Rattlesnake.  Several  plains  tribes  conferred  the  same  title  on  the  guardian 
spirit  of  the  Missouri  River,  known  as  "Grandfather  Snake."  Though  Da  had  lost  his 
African  name,  he  had  gained  others  from  those  he  encountered  in  his  new  home.49 
The  segmentation  and  organization  of  Native  American  magical  specialists 
similarly  mirrored  African  practices.  For  example,  diviners  chiefly  concerned  themselves 
with  foretelling  the  course  of  individual  lives,  finding  lost  or  stolen  articles,  and  most 
important,  diagnosing  illness.  Once  diagnosed,  clients  turned  to  priests,  more  commonly 
known  as  "medicine  men."  Much  of  the  medicine  men's  practice  consisted  of 
administering  herbal  remedies.  They  did  not,  however,  rely  simply  on  chemical 
properties  of  plants.  On  the  contrary,  illness  was  itself  a  spiritual  condition,  requiring 
magical  cures.  Brought  on  by  an  imbalance  in  nature,  it  was  usually  a  result  of  the 
actions  of  angry  animal  spirits  who  resented  being  killed  by  humans.  Plants,  as  friends  of 
humankind,  were  natural  allies  in  the  battle  against  ill  health.  In  conjunction  with 


49Hudson,  131-132,  136-139,  165-168;  Mooney,  Myths  and  Sacred  Formulas, 
295-296;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  236-237;  George  E.  Lankford,  ed.,  Native 
American  Legends:  Southeastern  Legends:  Tales  from  the  Natchez,  Caddo,  Biloxi, 
Chickasaw,  and  Other  Nations,  American  Folklore  Series,  ed.  W.  K.  McNeil  (Little 
Rock:  August  House,  1987),  102-105. 


170 
herbalism,  Indians  used  sacred  dances,  songs,  and  incantations  to  effect  cures.  Priests 
also  used  their  medicine  to  bring  about  successful  hunts,  love,  victory  in  war,  and 
sometimes  harm  to  their  enemies.  Furthermore,  like  African  magical  specialists,  they 
received  pay  for  their  services  and  organized  themselves  into  societies.  These  societies 
typically  operated  for  specific  purposes,  ranging  from  promoting  healing  and  agricultural 
fertility  to  honoring  the  animals.  Opposite  the  generally  positive  powers  of  diviners  and 
medicine  men,  was  the  evil  art  of  witchcraft.  Witches  were  wholly  malevolent  and  could 
work  evil  simply  by  thinking  it.  They  felt  compelled  to  steal  time  from  the  lives  of  others 
in  order  to  extend  their  own,  which  they  did  by  inducing  madness,  illness,  or  death  or  by 
eating  their  victims.  To  facilitate  their  malicious  designs,  witches  could  fly  and  transform 
themselves  into  cats,  wolves,  owls,  ravens,  and  balls  of  fire.50 

American  Indians'  methods  of  gaining  magical  powers  also  strongly  resembled 
African  ones.  For  instance,  as  with  African  and  European  sorcerers,  Indian  practitioners 
often  underwent  initiation  ceremonies,  during  which  they  studied  magic.  Among  the 
Creeks,  small  groups  of  prospective  priests  sought  out  older  medicine  men  for  induction 
and  instruction.  After  secluding  themselves  from  the  rest  of  society,  they  fasted  and 
ingested  a  large  amount  of  "red  root,"  inducing  vomiting.  Thereafter  followed  four  days 
of  instruction,  which  concluded  with  a  steam  bath  and  washing  in  a  cold  stream.  Five  or 
six  more  of  these  four-day  sessions  would  follow  over  the  succeeding  months. 


50Hudson,  174-183,  336-365;  Mooney,  Myths  and  Sacred  Formulas,  303-307; 
Carmody  and  Carmody,  58-31;  Ake  Hultkrantz,  The  Religions  of  the  American  Indians, 
trans,  by  Monica  Setterwall  (Berkeley,  Los  Angeles,  and  London:  University  of 
California  Press,  1979),  116-128.  Other  magical  specialists  also  existed.  Most  notable  of 
these  were  weather  specialists,  who  purported  to  bring  rain  as  needed.  See  Hudson  337- 
338. 


171 
Prospective  priests  ended  their  instruction  with  two  successive  sessions  of  eight  and 
twelve  days,  respectively.  The  initiation  finished  only  after  the  old  priest  buried  the 
inductees,  allowing  them  to  breath  through  a  tube.  As  the  novitiates  waited,  symbolically 
entombed  in  the  earth,  the  priest  burned  leaves  atop  the  "grave."  Also,  as  in  Africa,  many 
Native  American  magical  specialists  were  gifted  with  their  powers.  Diviners  often  gained 
their  abilities  in  this  way.  For  example,  in  several  southeastern  tribes,  the  younger  of  a 
set  of  twins  was  thought  to  be  a  born  diviner.  Many  witches  were  likewise  born  with 
their  powers,  being  driven  to  evil  by  vermin  which  inhabited  their  bodies.  Other  witches 
used  a  fourth  method  to  gain  their  abilities.  They  fasted  and  drank  concoctions  of  duck 
root  {Sagittaria  latifolia)  over  a  seven-day  period,  which  gave  them  the  powers  of  flight 
and  shape  shifting.51 

One  of  the  more  striking  shared  features  of  African  and  Native  American  beliefs 
was  the  concept  of  multiple  souls.  Southeastern  Indians  typically  held  to  a  two-soul 
model.  The  first  of  these  was  the  "bodily  soul,"  which  gave  a  person  life,  mobility,  and 
awareness.  The  second  was  the  "free  soul,"  which  wandered  while  their  owners  slept,  as 
did  the  Yoruban  okan.  For  example,  the  Seminoles  believed  that  a  person's  free  soul  left 
the  body  through  the  anus  and  journeyed  to  the  north  while  a  person  slept.  Dreams 
resulted.  Illness  was  the  consequence  when  souls  refused  to  return.  A  person  deserted  by 
only  one  soul  would  not  immediately  die,  however.  Skilled  priests  could  convince  it  to 
return  if  contacted  in  time.  Once  four  days  had  passed,  the  situation  became  desperate, 
because  the  bodily  soul  might  leave  the  body.  If  it  did,  the  afflicted  was  beyond  help. 
Furthermore,  while  laymen  and  laywomen  could  do  little  to  control  the  movements  of 


51Hudson,  337-340,  362-363. 


172 
their  free  soul,  medicine  men  could  send  their  souls  wherever  they  desired.  The  influence 
of  Indians'  ideas  of  multiple  souls  is  best  illustrated  by  the  cases  of  Braziel  Robinson  and 
Divinity.  Both  claimed  to  have  two  souls,  one  of  which  stayed  put  while  the  other 
traveled.  Their  two-soul  model  more  closely  resembled  the  American  Indian  concept 
than  the  African,  in  which  a  person  typically  had  four  or  five  souls.52 

Parallels  likewise  existed  between  the  practice  of  Native  American  and  African 
magic.  One  of  the  most  fearsome  powers  of  black  conjurers  was  the  ability  to  insert 
reptiles,  amphibians,  and  insects  into  their  victims'  bodies,  causing  illness  and  eventual 
death.  Although  this  practice  was  widespread  in  Africa,  it  was  just  as  common  among 
the  aboriginal  Americans.  Indian  witches,  who  were  themselves  inhabited  with  vermin 
from  the  Under  World,  could  harm  others  by  transforming  the  food  in  their  victims' 
stomachs  into  lizards  or  frogs.  They  also  supposedly  inserted  nonliving  objects,  like 
cloth,  charcoal,  and  flint,  into  the  bodies  of  their  enemies.53  As  with  African- American 
conjure,  only  a  more  powerful  sorcerer  could  heal  victims  of  infestation.54 

A  more  benign  power  shared  by  blacks  and  Native  Americans  was  the  ability  to 
make  magical  bundles.  Indians'  "medicine  bundles"  contained  a  variety  of  holy 
materials,  which  were  important  in  many  communal  and  personal  pursuits.  For  instance, 


"Hudson,  344;  Hultkrantz,  Religions  of  the  American  Indians,  131-132;  Opoku, 
91-100;  MacGaffey,  135-136;  Bass,  "Mojo,"  88-89;  Steiner,  "Braziel  Robinson,"  226- 
228. 

"Sometimes,  animal  ghosts  would  take  up  residence  in  those  who  angered  them, 
creating  similar  ailments.  See  Hudson,  172. 

54Hudson,  360;  Mooney,  "Cherokee  Medicine,"  46,  Virgil  J.  Vogel,  American 
Indian  Medicine,  Civilization  of  the  American  Indian  Series,  vol.  95  (Norman:  University 
of  Oklahoma  Press,  1970),  15-17. 


173 
Creek  war  chiefs  carried  magical  bundles  when  advancing  against  their  enemies.  Their 
importance  was  so  great  that  their  carriers  never  allowed  them  to  touch  the  ground, 
placing  them  on  special  pedestals  instead.  Bundles  were  also  important  in  religious 
ceremonies.  The  bundles  used  in  wars  and  religious  rituals  were  important  to 
communities,  but  others  were  specific  to  the  individual.  Almost  all  North  American 
Indians  believed  that  each  individual  had  a  guardian  spirit,  whose  physical  representation 
was  a  personal  medicine  bundle,  an  idea  closely  resembling  African  explanations  for  the 
power  of  minkisi,  gbo,  and  gregory  bags.  Most  people  obtained  their  guardian  spirits  by 
seeking  them  through  fasting,  prayer,  and  solitude,  during  which  the  spirits  would  instruct 
them  in  the  manufacture  of  their  medicine  bundles.  Some  tribes  allowed  their  members 
to  buy  the  bundles  and  attendant  spirits  from  priests  or  even  laymen.  However  obtained, 
carrying  medicine  bundles  protected  their  owners  and  allowed  them  to  call  on  the  spirit 
world  for  aid  in  difficulty  or  danger.  It  is  no  coincidence  that  Mande-style  gregory  bags 
persisted  the  longest  in  Missouri,  where  blacks  had  close  contact  with  Indian  peoples  who 
employed  almost  identical  charms.55 

Native  American  beliefs  did  much  to  preserve  African  ideas  and  practices,  but 
they  also  enriched  conjure  with  their  own  distinctive  contributions.  One  example  was  a 
slave  conjurer  known  to  Roland  Steiner.  Though  a  native  African,  the  hoodooist  declared 
he  had  learned  his  art  from  Native  Americans.  Among  the  many  powers  he  claimed  were 
the  abilities  to  control  masters  and  overseers,  compel  runaway  slaves  to  return  to  their 


55t 


'Hudson,  244,  247,  252,  370,  489;  Hultkrantz,  Religions  of  the  American  Indians, 
66-83. 


174 
owners,  and  guarantee  his  clients  victory  in  games  of  chance.  Unfortunately  for  later 
scholars,  Steiner  did  not  record  how  the  hoodooists  obtained  such  miraculous  results.56 
Indians'  contributions  were  most  obvious  in  hoodoo's  magical  herbalism,  where 
many  magical  items  can  be  traced  to  Native  American  medical  practices.  For  instance, 
devil's  snuffbox,  better  known  as  the  puffball  mushroom  {Lycoperdon  perlatum  and 
related  species),  was  a  common  ingredient  in  Georgian  conjure  bags,  particularly  those 
designed  with  evil  in  mind.  In  American  Indian  belief,  it  had  the  more  beneficial 
qualities  of  stopping  blood  flow  and  keeping  babies'  skin  healthy.  Another  plant  used  by 
both  blacks  and  Native  Americans  was  amaranth  (Amaranthus  retroflexus  and  spinosus). 
Missouri's  African-Americans  believed  that  it  had  the  power  of  winning  the  love  of 
whoever  ate  it  when  combined  with  pounded  wheat,  honey  from  a  new  hive,  and  a  white 
dove's  heart  and  baked  into  a  cake.  Indians  valued  it  for  its  astringency  and  as  a 
treatment  of  profuse  menstruation.  They  also  used  it  in  magic  associated  with  the  Green 
Corn  Ceremony.  Although  devil's  snuffbox  and  amaranth  took  on  very  different  uses 
when  transferred  from  Native  Americans  to  African- Americans,  others  retained  their 
original  uses.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  such  continuity  was  puccoon  root  (either 
Sanguinaria  canadensis  or  Lithospermum  canescens).  Blacks  believed  that  it  gave  luck 
when  rubbed  on  one's  body.  Native  Americans  had  similar  ideas.  They  rubbed  it  upon 
their  bodies,  for  purposes  ranging  from  creating  success  in  love  to  preventing 
convulsions.57 


56Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  177. 

"Steiner,  "Superstitions  from  Central  Georgia,"  269;  Steiner,  "Observations  on 
the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  179;  Virgil  Vogel,  American  Indian  Medicine 
(Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1970),  224-225,  236;  Fanny  D.  Bergen,  ed., 


175 
In  Missouri,  hoodooists  spoke  of  "conjure  stones,"  which  gave  their  owners  the 
ability  to  conjure,  regardless  of  whether  they  were  favored  by  the  spirit  world  and  without 
the  usual  processes  of  initiation  and  instruction.  Mary  Owen  saw  only  one  in  the  course 
of  her  investigations,  which  she  described  as  black  and  shaped  like  a  kidney.  If  their 
strength  ever  lessened,  it  was  readily  restored  by  feeding  the  stone  with  whiskey  or  red 
pepper.  Two  of  her  informers  estimated  that  there  were  only  six  in  the  United  States. 
Though  some  conjurers  told  her  that  the  stones  came  from  Africa,  they  more  likely 
originated  with  Native  Americans.58  Most  southeastern  Indians  believed  that  certain 
stones  conferred  magical  powers  on  their  possessors  and  enabled  them  to  foresee  the 
future.  Among  the  Cherokees,  they  were  crystals,  which  reportedly  came  from  the  body 
of  Uktena,  the  great  Under  World  serpent.  The  most  important  of  them  was  the  Ulunsuti, 
a  crest  which  projected  from  the  head  of  the  serpent.  Naturally,  obtaining  one  was  very 
dangerous,  but  if  the  seeker  succeeded,  he  would  become  "the  greatest  wonder  worker  of 
his  tribe."59  Even  lesser  crystals  could  attract  game  and  members  of  the  opposite  sex, 


Animal  and  Plant  Lore:  Collected  from  the  Oral  Tradition  of  English  Speaking  Folk, 
with  an  Introduction  by  Joseph  Y.  Bergen,  (Boston  and  New  York:  Houghton,  Mifflin 
and  Company,  1899),  vol.  7,  Memoirs  of  the  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  78;  Paul  B. 
Hamel  and  Mary  U.  Chiltoskey,  Cherokee  Plants  and  Their  Uses-A  400  Year  History 
(Sylva:  Herald  Publishing  Company,  1975),  23;  Steven  Foster  and  James  A.  Duke,  A 
Field  Guide  to  Medicinal  Plants  and  Herbs  of  Eastern  and  Central  North  America,  2nd 
ed.  (Boston  and  New  York:  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  2000),  54-56,  155,  244. 


58t 


Despite  the  similarities  between  African- American  conjure  stones  and  Native 
American  magical  crystals,  we  cannot  wholly  reject  the  possibility  that  the  stones  were 
genuine  African  articles.  Stones  sacred  to  specific  gods  did  exist  in  parts  of  West  Africa. 
Nevertheless,  because  these  stones  did  not  appear  outside  of  the  northwestern  Latin  zone, 
they  probably  did  not  originate  in  Africa.  If  they  had,  one  could  expect  to  find  them 
throughout  the  South.  See  Parrinder,  11. 


59 


Hudson,  167. 


176 
repel  bullets,  and  bring  favorable  weather.  Similarly  Creek  and  Seminole  sorcerers 
resorted  to  their  own  magic  stones,  called  "sapiya."  As  was  the  case  with  Cherokees' 
crystals,  they  brought  success  in  hunting,  love,  and  other  pursuits.  Like  African- 
Americans'  conjure  stones  they  had  to  be  fed.  Unlike  blacks'  stones,  however,  they 
turned  on  their  owners  if  neglected.  Even  plains  tribes  had  their  own  sacred  stones, 
which  typically  resembled  animals.60 

Conjure  originated  in  Africa,  but  its  transformation  in  the  United  States  made  it 
into  a  truly  American  practice.  Contact  with  Europeans  and  Native  Americans  sometimes 
worked  against  African  magic  and  religion,  ensuring  that  they  did  not  survive  intact  in  the 
New  World.  At  the  same  time,  the  blend  of  peoples  worked  to  preserve  other  African 
beliefs  and  practices  and  even  contributed  many  new  ideas.  In  this  respect,  the 
transformation  of  African- American  magic  followed  a  pattern  similar  to  that  faced  by  all 
immigrants  to  the  United  States:  a  tug-of-war  between  the  desire  to  hold  on  to  traditional 
beliefs  and  practices  and  the  impossibility  of  recreating  ancestral  homelands  in  the  New 
World.  The  result  was  a  creolized  hybrid  of  beliefs  from  all  three  cultures.  Chart  3,  a 
compilation  of  materials  common  in  nineteenth-century  conjure  and  their  cultural  origins, 
demonstrates  the  extent  of  the  mixing.  Though  not  a  scientific  sampling,  it  shows  that  the 
current  popular  conception  of  hoodoo  as  an  African  import  is  misguided.  Though 
entering  the  colonies  and  later  United  States  as  an  immigrant  belief,  its  development 


^Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  246-248;  Hudson,  166-169;  Hultkrantz, 
Religions  of  the  American  Indians,  60-62;  James  H.  Howard,  in  collaboration  with  Willie 
Lena,  Oklahoma  Seminoles:  Medicines,  Magic,  and  Religion,  Civilization  of  the 
American  Indian  Series,  vol.  5  (Norman:  University  of  Oklahoma  Press,  1984),  88-90. 


177 
through  resistance,  acculturation,  and  accommodation  resulted  in  a  practice  as  American 
as  anything  brought  from  Europe.61 

Table  3:  Some  Materials  Common  in  or  Peculiar  to  Conjure  and  Their  Origins 


Item  with  African- 
American  Name 

Common/Scientific 
Name 

Use  in  Conjure 

Cultural 
Origin(s) 

Goopher  Dust 

Graveyard  Dirt 

Used  in  good  and  evil  conjure 

African 

Horseshoes 

N/A 

Protection 

European 

Eggs 

N/A 

Divination  and  other  uses 

European  and 
African 

Playing  cards 

N/A 

Divination 

European 

Rabbits'  feet 

N/A 

Good  luck 

European 

Parts  reptiles, 
amphibians,  and 
insects 

N/A 

Numerous  uses,  but  most 
commonly  causing  infestation  of 
victims'  bodies 

Various 

Salt 

N/A 

Protection 

Particularly 
popular  in 
Europe 

Human  bones, 

N/A 

Protection  and  to  magicalb 

/  affect 

Universal 

fingernails,  hair, 
blood,  and  other 
parts  or  byproducts 

Lodestones 


Black  cat  bone 
Silver  money 
Needles  and  pins 

Bibles 

Red  flannel 


the  person  to  whom  they  belong 


Naturally  magnetic  stone     Protection  and  money  drawing 


N/A 
N/A 
N/A 

N/A 

N/A 


Invisibility,  often  for  theft 

Protection  from  conjure 

Various,  particularly  causing 
harm 

Various  uses,  particularly 
powerful 


European  and 
American 

African 

European 

African  and 
European 

European 


Encloses  charms,  increasing  their      African 
power 


61 


For  a  discussion  of  this  process,  see  Gomez,  1-16. 


178 


Table  3.     Continued 


Item  with  African- 

Common/Scientific 

Use  in  Conjure 

Cultural 

American  Name 

Name 

Origin(s) 

Devil's  Snuff  Box 

Puffball  mushrooms 

Material  used  in  malevolent 

European  and 

(Lycoperdon  perlatum, 

conjure 

Native 

pyriforme,  and  others) 

American 

Pecune  or  puccoon 

Bloodroot  (Sanguinaria 

Good  luck 

Native 

root 

canadensis)  or  hoary 
puccoon  (Lithospermum 
canescens) 

American 

Red  pepper  and 

Capiscum  minimum  and 

Protection 

Native 

Guinea  pepper 

Capsicum  fastigiatum, 

American  and 

respectively 

African 

King  of  the  Woods 

Spikenard  (Aralia 

Various,  especially  anything 

Native 

racemosa) 

involving  conquering 

American 

Snake  root 

Samson  snakeroot 

Various,  including  preventing 

American 

(Psoralea  pedunculata) 

snakebite 

origin 

John  the  Conqueror, 

Various  versions, 

Various  uses,  particularly 

African  root 

Conquer  John,  or 

including  Solomon's 

powerful  "king  root  of  the  forest" 

concept,  Native 

Conjure  John 

seal  (Polygonatum 

American  and 

multiflorum),  Indian 

European 

turnip  {Arum 

medicinal  plant 

tripyhllum),  St.  John's 

substitutes 

wort  (Hypericum 

perforatum),  and  jalap 

(Ipomea  jalap  and 

Convolvulus 

panduratus) 

Chewing  John  the 

Galangal  (Alpinia 

Protection  from  enemies 

African  root 

Conqueror 

officinarum) 

concept,  related 

European 
import  from 
Southeast  Asia 


Alligator  body  parts      N/A 


Candles  N/A 

Frizzly  chickens  N/A 


Kills  enemies 


Used  to  please  particular  spirits 
Protection  from  conjure 


American 
substitute  for 
African 
crocodile  parts 

European 

African 


179 


Item  with  African- 
American  Name 


Common/Scientific 
Name 


Table  3.     Continued 

Use  in  Conjure 


Cultural 
Origin(s) 


Jimson  burrs  Thorn-apple  (Datura  Harms  those  who  smell  them 

stramonium) 

Alanthus  Tree  of  Heaven  Harms  those  who  smell  them 

(Ailanthus  glandulosa) 


Mayapple 


American  mandrake 
{Podophyllum  peltatum) 


Used  in  conjure 


Various 


European 
import  from 
Southeast  Asia 

European  and 

Native 

American 

concepts, 

Native 

American  plant 

origin 


Amaranth 


Amaranthus  retroflexus       Various,  particularly  love  Native 

and  spinosus  American 

SOURCES:  Steiner,  "Superstitions  from  Central  Georgia,"  262,  269;  Louis  Pendleton,  "Notes  on  Negro 
Folk-Lore  and  Witchcraft  in  the  South,"  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore  3  (1890):  203;  "The  Religious 
Life  of  the  Negro  Slave,"  822;  Steiner,  "Observations  on  the  Practice  of  Conjuring  in  Georgia,"  177-180; 
James  C.  Neal,  "Legalized  Crime  in  Florida,"  in  Proceedings  of  the  Florida  Medical  Association:  Session 
of  1891  (Jacksonville:  Times-Union  Printing  House,  1891),  49;  Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  1 13;  Mary 
Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232,  247-248;  Porteous,  51;  Bibb,  25-32;  Pitkin,  185-213,  260-292;  Hearn, 
"New  Orleans  Superstitions,"  843;  Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  16-22;  "Folk-Lore  and 
Ethnology"  28  (1899):  1 12-1 13;  Breslaw,  539;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  923-924; 
Adams,  Rawick,  ed.,  supplement  2,  vol.  2,  20-21;  Bergen,  78-79;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  279;  Puckett, 
Folk  Beliefs,  245-246;  H.  U.  Lampe,  Famous  Voodoo  Rituals  &  Spells:  A  Voodoo  Handbook,  new  ed. 
(Minneapolis:  Marlar  Publishing  Company,  1982),  17.  Origins  determined  by  consulting  Mary  Owen, 
Voodoo  Tales,  1 13;  Mary  Owen,  "Among  the  Voodoos,"  232;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  6-8,  15,  75,  102, 
22 1  -246;  Thompson,  Flash  of  the  Spirit,  1 08- 1 3 1 ;  Thompson,  Face  of  the  Gods,  49-50;  Gomez,  204-206; 
MacGaffey,  52;  Kingsley,  446,  469;  Opoku,  148;  Georgia  Writers'  Project,  Savannah  Unit,  Drums  and 
Shadows,  43,  61,  200,  206;  Puckett,  Folk  Beliefs,  220,  290-291;  Bacon,  209;  Grieve,  62-63,  101-103,  175- 
176,  316-317,  339-340,  640-642,  655-656,  707-708,  749-750,  802-807,  841-842;  Opie  and  Tatem,  135, 
193-194;  Vogel,  224-225,  299,  326-328,  354-356;  Charles  F.  Millspaugh,  American  Medicinal  Plants:  An 
Illustrated  and  Descriptive  Guide  to  Plants  Indigenous  to  and  Naturalized  in  the  United  States  Which  Are 
Used  in  Medicine  (Philadelphia:  John  C.  Yorston  and  Company,  1892;  republication,  New  York:  Dover 
Publications,  Inc.,  1974),  488;  John  K.  Crellin  and  Jane  Philpott,  A  Reference  Guide  to  Medicinal  Plants: 
Herbal  Medicine  Past  and  Present  (Durham  and  London:  Duke  University  Press,  1990),  212-213;  Hamel 
and  Chiltoskey,  23, 41, 46,  51;  Foster  and  Duke,  52-56,  63-64,  155,  244;  Hudson,  166-169. 
NOTE:  In  general,  those  items  listed  above  the  two  John  the  Conqueror  roots  were  more  common  in  the 
Anglo  zone.  Those  below  were  more  common  in  the  Latin  area.  The  John  the  Conquerors  were  present  in 
both  areas. 


Some  elements  of  conjure  originated  in  America,  without  African,  European,  or 
Native  American  precedents.  For  instance,  the  term  "rootwork,"  common  in  English- 
settled  South  Carolina,  was  a  creation  of  African- Americans,  used  to  express  one  of  the 


180 
conjurers'  most  obvious  employments.  A  more  striking  example  of  black  American 
creativity  appeared  in  the  gods  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo.  In  their  magic  and  religious 
worship,  hoodooists  included  a  group  of  "saints"  unknown  to  both  Catholic  or  African 
priests.  The  best  known  of  these  was  "St.  Expedite"  or  "St.  Espidy,"  applied  to  for  luck, 
court  cases,  and  money  drawing.  Hurston  added  that  he  was  especially  important  in  cases 
involving  the  need  for  speed.  Her  identification  is  not  surprising  since  the  name 
apparently  derives  from  a  word  referring  to  completing  a  task  quickly.  Other  "saints" 
came  from  American  history.  The  most  important  of  these  was  Black  Hawk,  a  leader  of 
the  Sauk  tribe  in  an  1 832  war  to  preserve  their  territory  against  the  encroachment  of 
American  settlers.  Like  African- Americans,  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  whites,  but 
unlike  many  blacks,  he  had  taken  up  arms,  even  winning  a  minor  victory.  Earning  a 
reputation  as  a  fierce,  cunning,  and  merciful  warrior  in  life,  he  retained  this  reputation  as 
a  hoodoo  saint.  While  some  turned  to  him  for  help  in  their  problems,  others  stated  that  he 
was  "one  of  the  old  evil  saints,"  best  called  on  to  harm  others.62  The  two  faces  of  Black 
Hawk  replicate  his  reputation  among  whites  as  a  noble  savage  fighting  to  save  his  home 
and  a  killer  who  supposedly  mutilated  the  bodies  of  his  victims.63 

Despite  the  opposition  and  alternative  beliefs  encountered  by  conjure,  it  survived. 
Moreover,  it  remained  a  traditional  African- American  practice.  As  the  nineteenth  century 
drew  to  a  close,  it  would  find  new  opportunities  in  mass  media  and  commodity  culture, 
participation  in  which  had  been  denied  slaves.  In  the  twentieth  century,  conjurers  would 


62Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  863. 

"Pinckney,  6;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  279-280;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  862-888;  Berry,  25-52;  Jacobs  and  Kaslow,  136-147;  Long, 
Spiritual  Merchants,  54. 


181 
increasingly  fade  in  importance,  being  replaced  with  mail  order  companies  and  hoodoo 
shops. 


CHAPTER  5 

CONJURE  SHOPS  AND  MANUFACTURING: 

CHANGES  IN  HOODOO  INTO  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

Throughout  most  of  the  nineteenth  century,  conjure  was  a  personal  affair 
conducted  between  hoodoo  doctors  and  their  clients.  While  it  was  practiced  throughout 
the  South,  regional  and  local  variations  were  common.  By  the  early  twentieth  century, 
however,  hoodoo  was  undergoing  profound  changes.  First,  the  differences  between  the 
Anglo  and  Latin  cultural  areas  were  becoming  less  pronounced.  Likewise,  African- 
American  migrants  carried  conjure  to  areas  of  the  country  where  it  had  been  rare  in  the 
preceding  centuries.  Much  more  important,  however,  was  the  process  by  which  hoodoo 
became  an  increasingly  impersonal  affair.  As  Caroline  Morrow  Long  put  it,  hoodoo  was 
undergoing  "commodification."1  Old-fashioned  conjurers  who  performed  spells  and 
made  charms  at  the  request  of  local  clients  were  becoming  rare.  Twentieth-century 
practitioners  were  more  likely  to  operate  shops  selling  ready-made  magical  products 
shipped  from  hundreds  of  miles  away.  In  some  cases,  large-scale  manufacturers  replaced 
conjurers  altogether.  Advertising  their  products  through  agents  and  in  local  and  national 
newspapers,  they  operated  as  mail-order  companies. 

One  of  the  most  readily  identifiable  changes  in  hoodoo  was  the  fading  importance 
of  regional  distinctions.  Of  course,  some  differences  between  the  Latin  and  Anglo  areas 
persisted.  For  instance,  as  Zora  Neale  Hurston  learned,  initiations  continued  to  take  place 


'Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  99-126. 

182 


183 
in  New  Orleans  as  late  as  the  1930s.  They  were  rare  outside  of  the  area.  Similarly, 
conjurers  along  the  Atlantic  Coast  were  as  attached  to  graveyard  dust  as  their 
predecessors  had  been.  Also,  along  the  Mississippi  River  and  Gulf  of  Mexico,  unique 
gregory  bag-style  charms  persisted.  Known  as  "nation  sacks,"  women  wore  them  under 
their  clothes  against  their  waists.2  Men  were  forbidden  to  touch  them.  Unlike  Missouri 
conjure  balls  and  bags,  women  filled  them  with  whatever  magical  materials  they  needed 
at  a  given  moment.  For  example,  dried  egg  yolks  were  supposed  to  keep  husbands  and 
boyfriends  from  leaving.  The  peels  of  red  onions  brought  general  good  luck.  During  the 
1930s,  nation  sacks  could  sometimes  be  found  in  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  Alabama. 
They  were  also  common  in  Memphis,  Tennessee.  In  the  areas  initially  settled  by  the 
English,  however,  they  were  unknown.3 

New  Orleans'  reputation  for  Voodoo  also  survived  the  passage  of  time.  This 
image  remained  so  strong  that  the  author  Henry  C.  Castellanos  asked  his  readers,  "Who 
has  not  heard,  in  connection  with  the  local  history  of  New  Orleans,  of  that  mysterious  and 
religious  sect  of  fanatics,  imported  from  the  jungles  of  Africa  and  implanted  into  our 
midst,  so  well  known  under  the  appellation  of  Voudous?^  Moreover,  the  city's 
reputation  for  magic  survives  to  the  present.5 


2I  have  been  unable  to  find  mention  of  nation  sacks  in  nineteenth-century  sources. 
3Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  620,  691-694,  744-888,  3293- 


3419. 


"Henry  C.  Castellanos,  New  Orleans  As  It  Was:  Episodes  of  Louisiana  Life  (New 
Orleans:  L.  Graham  &  Son,  Ltd.,  1895),  90. 

5Touchstone,  375-386. 


184 
Ironically,  while  Voodoo's  fame  was  at  its  height,  its  practice  was  undergoing  a 
decline.  Both  Voodoo  and  Nanigo  had  lost  much  of  their  specifically  religious  character 
by  the  turn  of  the  twentieth  century,  bringing  them  in  line  with  conjure  in  the  rest  of  the 
nation.  In  part,  this  was  due  to  active  suppression  by  the  authorities.  During  the  Civil 
War,  the  Union  forces  occupying  New  Orleans  broke  up  gatherings,  usually  arresting  the 
participants.  After  the  Yankees  departed,  the  New  Orleans  police  took  over.  Unlawful 
assembly  and  nudity  were  the  usual  charges,  but  the  aim  was  to  wipe  out  what 
Castellanos  referred  to  as  "this  disgusting  organization  or  order,  with  its  stupid  creed  and 
bestial  rites."6  In  1873,  the  Daily  Picayune  reported  that  Voodoo  ceremonies  no  longer 
took  place  within  the  city  limits.  The  only  ritual  still  practiced  was  the  annual  St.  John's 
Eve  gathering  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pontchartrain.  After  1876,  even  this  ceremony 
became  sporadic.  When  it  was  held,  its  organizers  geared  it  toward  white  spectators,  who 
paid  entrance  fees  and  additional  sums  for  charms,  the  right  to  witness  'secret'  rituals, 
and  the  services  of  prostitutes.  Nanigo  faced  a  similar  fate.  In  Key  West,  its  popularity 
peaked  during  the  1880s  and  1890s.  Following  the  murder  of  a  Cuban  immigrant  during 
a  Nanigo  street  festival,  the  faith's  reputation  suffered  and  its  adherents  fell  away. 
According  to  Stetson  Kennedy,  the  last  Nanigo  dance  was  a  1923  reenactment  by  young 
nonbelieiver.  As  in  New  Orleans,  the  later  ceremonies  were  often  moneymaking 
endeavors.  Ganda,  one  leader  of  the  Key  West  branch  of  the  religion,  continued  to  dance 
for  visiting  sailors  well  into  the  twentieth  century,  charging  them  a  dime  per  performance. 


6Castellanos,  90. 


185 
Once  Voodoo  and  Naftigo  had  lost  their  distinctive  religious  characters,  the  hoodoo  of  the 
Latin  area  increasingly  resembled  the  conjure  practiced  in  the  rest  of  the  nation.7 

New  Orleans'  Voodoo  was  fading,  but  its  magical  practices  remained  the  best 
known  form  of  African- American  sorcery.  As  a  result,  its  terminology  spread  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  areas  settled  by  the  French  and  Spanish.  English  words  for  magic 
workers,  such  as  "cunning  doctor"  and  "high  man,"  were  virtually  extinct.  "Rootwork," 
"goopher,"  and  "two  head"  survived  in  the  Anglo  cultural  zone.  By  the  early  twentieth 
century,  however,  "hoodoo"  had  spread  beyond  the  Latin  area.  When  Harry  Middleton 
Hyatt  carried  out  his  interviews  during  the  1930s  and  1940s,  he  found  that  "hoodoo"  was 
a  term  used  throughout  the  South.  One  of  his  informants  described  a  Newport  News, 
Virginia  sorcerer  as  both  a  "cunjure  man"  and  a  "hoodoo  man."  A  Georgian  interviewee 
stated  the  case  more  directly,  saying  "Some  of  us  call  it  rootworkin ',  some  of  us  call  it 
witchcraft  an'  some  of  us  call  it  hoodoo,  but  it's  all  run  into  de  same  thing."8  The  two 
had  become  synonyms.  Nevertheless,  some  acknowledged  the  term's  newness.  One 
former  Florida  slave  told  Hyatt  that  "hoodoo"  had  not  come  into  use  until  after 
emancipation.  Despite  its  novelty,  it  became  so  popular  that  it  partially  displaced 
"conjure"  as  the  favored  designation  for  African-American  magic.  Zora  Neale  Hurston, 
who  studied  African- American  magic  in  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  Alabama,  stated 
"Veaudeau  is  the  European  term  for  African  magic  practices  and  beliefs,  but  it  is 


'Touchstone,  375-386;  "The  Voudou-' Fetish',"  Daily  Picayune,  25  June  1873; 
Kennedy,  "Naftigo  in  Florida,"  155. 

8Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  667.  The  emphases  are  in  the 
original. 


186 
unknown  to  the  American  Negro.  His  own  name  for  his  practices  is  hoodoo."9  She  went 
on  to  recognize  that  the  words  "conjure"  and  "roots"  remained  popular.10 

The  two  cultural  zones  had  ceased  to  be  major  factors  by  the  time  Hyatt  and 
Hurston  carried  out  their  investigations.  Despite  the  spread  of  Latin  terminology, 
hoodooists  throughout  the  South  had  fallen  into  the  form  of  conjure  first  practiced  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Its  practitioners  were  no  longer  priests  of  a  distinctly  African- 
American  syncretic  faith.  Instead  they  had  become  professional  sorcerers,  whose  primary 
motivation  was  personal  financial  betterment. 

Conjure  had  also  spread  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  South.  Beginning  in  the  second 
decade  of  the  twentieth  century,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  African- Americans  left  the 
South' s  rural  poverty  for  urban  life  in  the  North.  They  brought  their  magical  traditions 
with  them.  The  migration  continued  for  many  years,  peaking  during  the  Second  World 
War.  By  the  middle  of  the  twentieth  century,  conjure  was  no  longer  the  sole  provenance 
of  the  South.  Folklorist  Elon  Kulii  has  recorded  recent  instances  of  hoodoo  in  northern 
Indiana,  including  cases  of  lizards  in  human  bodies  and  the  use  of  women's  menstrual 
blood  to  win  men's  affections.  Healthcare  professionals  throughout  the  United  States 
have  encountered  patients  suffering  from  hoodoo-related  illness.  For  example,  Renaldo  J. 
Maduro  reported  that  he  treated  six  cases  that  involved  conjure  during  approximately  four 
years  of  postdoctoral  training  in  clinical  psychology  and  psychiatry  in  San  Francisco, 


9Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  317. 


10Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  288-289,  667-668,  896; 
Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  3 1 7. 


187 
California.  Ronald  R.  Wintrob,  a  medical  doctor,  likewise  encountered  several  cases  of 
rootwork  during  his  practice  in  Connecticut." 

Though  the  dissolving  of  regional  distinctions  and  the  geographic  expansion  of 
hoodoo  changed  the  face  of  African- American  magic,  conjure  was  undergoing  an  even 
greater  change  by  the  turn  of  the  century.  Hoodoo  was  traditionally  a  practice  in  which 
conjurers  made  charms  and  performed  spells  at  the  request  of  individual  clients.  Any 
materials  needed  they  gathered  from  nature.  They  operated  out  of  their  homes.  As  the 
twentieth  century  approached,  such  practices  were  becoming  rare.  By  the  1930s  and 
1940s,  a  form  of  conjure  without  conjurers  had  developed.  Consumers,  no  longer  clients, 
could  purchase  manufactured  magical  goods  from  shops  or  by  mail.  No  hoodooist  was 
necessary.  Like  so  much  else  in  American  life,  African-American  magic  was  becoming 
an  impersonal  industry. 

The  first  step  toward  consumer  conjure  was  the  opening  of  "conjure  shops,"  now 
more  commonly  known  as  "spiritual  supply  stores."  The  beginnings  of  such  shops  went 
undocumented,  but  evidence  suggests  that  their  precursors  developed  among  urban  free 
blacks  before  the  Civil  War.  For  instance,  according  to  Robert  Tallant,  Marie  Laveau 
kept  an  office  for  consultations  in  her  home  and  a  separate  house  for  her  more  secretive 
Voodoo  rites.  George  Washington  Cable  hinted  at  the  existence  of  full-fledged 
antebellum  conjure  shops  in  his  novel,  77ze  Grandissimes.  In  one  incident,  a  wealthy 


"Elon  Kulii,  "Root  Doctors  and  Psychics  in  the  Region,"  in  Indiana  Folklore:  A 
Reader,  ed.  Linda  Degh  (Bloomington:  Indiana  University  Press,  1980),  120-129; 
Renaldo  J.  Maduro,  "Hoodoo  Possession  in  San  Francisco:  Notes  on  Therapeutic  Aspects 
of  Regression,"  Ethos  3  (1975):  425-447;  Ronald  M.  Wintrob,  "The  Influence  of  Others: 
Witchcraft  and  Rootwork  As  Explanations  of  Behavior  Disturbances,"  Journal  of 
Nervous  and  Mental  Disease  156  (1973):  318-326.  See  also  Grossman,  Land  of  Hope. 


188 
African- American  mistook  a  pharmacy  for  a  conjure  shop.  Upon  entering  an  apothecary 
owned  by  Joseph  Frowenfeld,  he  requested  a  "ouangan,"  a  variation  of  "wanga."  Despite 
Frowenfeld's  protestations  of  ignorance,  his  client  believed  that  his  request  had  simply 
been  rejected.  Similar  mistakes  recurred  throughout  the  book.  A  logical  inference  is  that 
such  shops  did  exist.  Though  Cable's  work  is  fiction,  he  intended  it  as  a  realistic 
portrayal  and  critique  of  the  racial  attitudes  of  New  Orleans'  Creoles.  Just  as  important, 
he  was  a  native  of  New  Orleans.  Born  in  1844,  he  was  in  an  excellent  position  to  observe 
the  practice  of  African- American  magic.12 

Whether  Cable's  account  was  trustworthy  or  not,  conjure  shops  became  an 
established  feature  of  African- American  society  in  the  decades  following  emancipation. 
In  the  period  immediately  following  the  Civil  War,  many  hoodooists  traveled  a  wide  area 
in  search  of  clients.  Some,  like  King  Alexander,  continued  to  do  so  until  near  the  turn  of 
the  century.  Others,  however,  settled  in  particular  locales,  opening  offices  or  small  shops. 
An  early  description  of  a  late  nineteenth-century  conjure  shop  came  from  the  pen  of 
Daniel  Webster  Davis.13  Above  the  door  was  a  sign  reading  "j.  t.  sheltun,  h.  p.," 
advertising  its  occupant's  employment  as  a  "homeopath."  Inside  were  jars  filled  with 
preserved  snakes  that  he  had  reputedly  taken  from  the  bodies  of  conjure  victims.  Mr. 
Sheltun  also  displayed  a  variety  of  dried  herbs  and  ready-made  charms  designed  to 


12Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  xv-xviii;  Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  65-66; 
Robert  Tallant,  The  Voodoo  Queen  (New  York:  Putnam,  1956;  reprint,  Gretna:  Pelican 
Publishing  Company,  2000),  131-133,  147;  Cable,  Grandissimes,  123,  147-156,  291-293, 
325,412. 

13The  year  of  Davis'  visit  to  the  shop  was  not  recorded,  though  in  1898  he  wrote 
that  it  occurred  "many  years  ago."  Daniel  Davis,  251. 


189 
prevent  conjuration.  Davis  further  described  such  shops  as  generally  dark,  the  better  to 
unnerve  clients.14 

By  the  1930s  and  1940s,  shops  like  the  one  owned  by  J.  T.  Sheltun  were  common 
in  urban  areas.  While  working  for  the  Florida  Writers'  Project,  Zora  Neale  Hurston 
discovered  one  in  Jacksonville,  Florida.  She  described  it  as  permeated  with  the  smell  of 
incense.  Its  shelves  were  filled  with  boxes  and  bottles  of  roots,  herbs,  oils,  powders,  and 
other  charms.  Unlike  Sheltun's  shop,  it  did  not  emphasize  the  frightening  aspects  of 
conjure.  Instead,  it  stressed  the  benefits  of  magic.  Above  its  door,  hung  a  sign,  reading, 
"Through  the  Days  of  Labor  and  Nights  of  Rest,  The  Charms  of  Fairy  Stones  will  Keep 
you  Blest."15  The  business,  located  on  the  400  block  of  Broad  Street,  was  in  the  heart  of 
the  city's  African- American  section.  It  reportedly  earned  its  owner  thousands  of  dollars 
each  year,  a  remarkable  fact  since  Hurston  had  visited  during  the  Great  Depression.16 
Other  conjure  shops  opened  during  this  period,  many  of  which  doubled  as  drug  stores. 
The  Cracker  Jack  Drug  Store  of  New  Orleans  was  the  most  famous  of  these.  Founded  in 
1 897  as  a  pharmacy,  it  had  become  a  hoodoo  supply  store  by  the  time  Hyatt  interviewed 
area  blacks.17 


l4Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  171;  Daniel  Davis,  251. 

15Zora  Neale  Hurston,  Federal  Writers  Project  in  Florida,  "The  Negro  in  Florida, 
1528-1940,"  P.  K.  Yonge  Library  of  Florida  History,  University  of  Florida,  Gainesville, 
117. 

16The  store  visited  by  Hurston  was  likely  the  Eureka  Store.  See  Kennedy, 
Palmetto  Country,  166-169. 

17Hurston,"The  Negro  in  Florida."  117-118;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  143-157; 
Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1625-1626,  3224. 


190 
Conjure  shops  remain  a  prominent  part  of  many  African- American  communities 
today.  For  many  years,  "Master  Bishop"  F.  L.  Robinson,  D.  D.  has  offered  his  services  as 
a  "spiritual  advisor"  to  the  people  of  Micanopy,  Florida,  from  his  shop,  Robinson  Hall. 
Rondo's  Temple  Sales  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  has  supplied  its  customers'  magical  needs 
since  1940.  Stanley  Drug  Company  of  Houston,  Texas,  a  combination  spiritual  supply 
store  and  pharmacy,  has  been  in  operation  since  1923.  Not  all  conjure  shops  are  survivals 
from  an  earlier  era.  For  instance,  Thomas  "Pop"  Williams  opened  the  Eye  of  the  Cat  with 
three  business  partners  in  1985  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  Like  the  conjure  shops  of 
the  1930s  and  1940s,  its  shelves  are  packed  with  herbs,  oils,  and  many  other  magical 
items.  Williams  performs  consultations  from  his  office  in  the  back  of  the  store.  When 
several  customers  arrive  to  speak  with  Williams,  they  can  take  advantage  of  the  waiting 
room  adjacent  to  his  office,  where  a  television  keeps  them  entertained.18 

Many  shops  were  simply  a  way  for  conjurers  to  make  their  charms  and  spells 
more  readily  available,  thereby  increasing  their  income.  On  the  other  hand,  one  did  not 
have  to  be  a  practitioner  to  open  a  hoodoo  store.  Donald  Miller  and  his  son,  Richard,  are 
excellent  examples.  Donald  Miller  opened  a  pharmacy,  now  known  as  Miller's  Rexall,  in 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  in  1960.  Miller  is  not  an  African- American.  On  the  contrary,  his 
ancestors  were  Russian  Jews,  who  immigrated  to  America  in  the  early  1900s  to  escape 
service  in  the  czar's  armies.  Donald  Miller  opened  his  business  as  a  pharmacy  serving 
Atlanta's  African- American  community.  He  gradually  turned  to  spiritual  goods  in  the 


18F.  L.  Robinson,  proprietor  of  Robinson  Hall,  interview  by  author,  1 1  January 
2002,  Micanopy,  FL,  notes,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL;  Long,  Spiritual 
Merchants,  143-157,  253-261;  Thomas  Williams,  proprietor  of  Eye  of  the  Cat,  interview 
by  author,  25  October  2001,  Columbia,  SC,  notes,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 


191 
face  of  high  customer  demand.  Though  the  elder  Miller  will  study  clients'  problems, 
pray,  and  prepare  charms  for  their  remedy,  his  son  does  not  believe  in  the  power  of 
hoodoo.  Felix  Figueroa,  owner  of  the  F  and  F  Botanica  and  Candle  Shop  of  New 
Orleans,  likewise  expresses  skepticism.  Though  many  of  his  customers  call  the  business 
a  "hoodoo  shop,"  he  maintains  that  it  was  open  to  all  religions.19  Figueroa,  however,  is  a 
Baptist,  who  describes  his  store  as  "a  business  to  make  a  living."20 

As  conjure  shops  were  springing  up  in  many  southern  cities,  an  even  newer  form 
of  conjure  arose  in  the  form  of  large-scale  manufacturers  who  sold  magical  supplies  by 
mail.  Hoodooists  and  conjure  shops  provided  the  impetus.  Traditionally,  root  doctors 
gathered  their  materials  from  nature.  By  the  early  twentieth  century,  however,  many 
purchased  their  herbs  and  other  botanical  goods  from  mail-order  companies  geared 
toward  the  home  remedy  market.  They  likewise  ascribed  magical  power  to  some 
preexisting  manufactured  goods.  Jockey  Club  Cologne  was  the  best  example.  Though  it 
originated  as  a  personal  hygiene  product,  by  the  1920s,  it  had  become  a  magical  tool  that 
believers  expected  to  bring  them  love  and  work.21 

Conjurers  and  their  shops  further  demonstrated  the  viability  of  postal  sales  by 
operating  their  own  mail-order  businesses.  One  of  the  earliest  known  to  have  done  so 


"During  my  time  in  Figueroa' s  shop,  I  met  an  adherent  of  Santeria  and  some 
Spiritualists,  as  well  as  people  simply  looking  for  magical  aids. 

20Richard  Miller,  co-proprietor  of  Miller's  Rexall,  interview  by  author,  7  April 
2001,  Atlanta,  GA,  notes,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL;  Long,  Spiritual 
Merchants,  153-154;  Felix  Figueroa,  proprietor  of  F  and  F  Botanica  and  Candle  Shop, 
interview  by  author,  15  November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio  recording, 
personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 

21Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  100-102;  Hurston,  Mules  and  Men,  277-280. 


192 
was  Julius  P.  Caesar  of  New  Orleans.  Specializing  in  matters  of  love,  he  eventually  ran 
foul  of  a  city  ordinance  forbidding  the  sale  of  charms.  By  the  1920s,  Dr.  Buzzard  was 
also  involved  in  mail-order  conjure.  James  McTeer,  a  white  sheriff  who  was  pursuing  the 
conjurer  for  dispensing  medicine  without  a  license,  reported  that  he  once  destroyed 
$1,500.00  in  postal  money  orders  when  he  discovered  that  they  could  be  used  in  evidence 
against  him.  Pierre  McGowan,  son  of  a  rural  mail  carrier  who  served  the  area  in  which 
Dr.  Buzzard  lived,  confirmed  that  much  of  his  income  came  from  mail-order  customers. 
Perhaps  Dr.  Buzzard  was  himself  a  patron  of  mail-order  hoodoo.  P.  H.  Washington  of 
Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  better  known  as  "Dr.  Eagle,"  claimed  Dr.  Buzzard  "sent  to  me 
for  all  the  high  priced  roots."22  Carolyn  Morrow  Long,  has  compiled  further  cases  of 
mail-order  conjurers  throughout  the  United  States,  including  Virginia,  Alabama,  Illinois, 
and  New  York.23 

With  commercial  organic  and  manufactured  goods  already  entering  the  hoodoo 
market  and  the  feasibility  of  mail-order  conjure  established,  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time 
before  existing  companies  incorporated  hoodoo  into  their  product  lines.  The  first  known 
manufacturer  of  black-oriented  spiritual  supplies  was  DeLaurence,  Scott  and  Company, 
now  known  as  the  L.  W.  DeLaurence  Company.  DeLaurence,  the  founder,  began  his 


James  Edwin  McTeer,  High  Sheriff,  with  an  Introduction  by  William  L.  Rhodes, 
Jr.  (Columbia:  JEM  Company,  1970),  34. 

23Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  130-143;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft- 
Rootwork,  1640-1650;  "Husbands  and  Lovers  Are  Voodoo  Sage's  Specialty,"  New 
Orleans  Times-Democrat,  29  October  1902,  10;  Loudell  F.  Snow,  "Mail  Order  Magic: 
The  Commercial  Exploitation  of  Folk  Belief,"  Journal  of  the  American  Folklore  Institute 
16  (1979):  44-73;  Pierre  McGowan,  The  Gullah  Mailman,  illustrated  by  Nancy  Ricker 
Rhett  (Raleigh:  Pentland  Press,  Inc.,  2000),  92;  McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor  23- 
McTeer,  High  Sheriff,  18-41. 


193 
career  as  a  Chicago-based  hypnotist  and  self-proclaimed  adept  at  Eastern  mysticism 
during  the  late  nineteenth  century.  His  early  products  included  several  books  on 
European  magic,  Jewish  kabbalah,  Far  Eastern  occultism,  and  hypnotism.  By  the  first 
decades  of  the  twentieth  century,  he  had  moved  into  the  African- American  market,  selling 
herbs,  amulets,  candles,  charms,  and  books  to  blacks  throughout  the  United  States.  For 
other  manufacturers,  the  occult  was  only  a  part  of  their  product  lines.  Two  companies 
founded  in  the  1920s,  the  Valmor  Company  of  Chicago,  Illinois  and  Keystone 
Laboratories  of  Memphis,  Tennessee,  sold  hoodoo  supplies  as  well  as  laxatives, 
cosmetics,  and  other  personal  hygiene  products.  Unlike  DeLaurence,  both  companies 
began  their  existence  as  businesses  aimed  toward  an  African-American  market.  Several 
similar  companies  appeared  in  succeeding  years  and  continue  to  do  so  today.  In  1991, 
Martin  Mayer  founded  Indio  Products,  Inc.,  currently  the  world's  largest  manufacturer 
and  supplier  of  spiritual  supplies.24 

Manufactured  conjure  differed  widely  from  traditional  hoodoo.  Most  notably,  few 
of  those  involved  were  part  of  African- American  culture.  Carolyn  Morrow  Long 
undertook  an  exhaustive  study  of  spiritual  supply  shops  for  her  book,  Spiritual 
Merchants.  Of  the  companies  she  investigated,  she  was  able  to  identify  eighteen  of  their 
founders  by  race.  Only  two  were  black.  Many  founders  of  both  manufacturing 
companies  and  conjure  shops  were  recent  Jewish  immigrants,  who  had  fled  Europe  in  the 
face  of  rising  antisemitism.  In  America,  they  encountered  a  less  virulent  form  of 
prejudice  that  nevertheless  pushed  them  toward  African- American  society  as  a  source  of 
income.  Catherine  Yronwode,  owner  of  the  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company,  reports  that  a 


24 


Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  187-219,  261-263. 


194 
cousin  had  such  a  history.  Leaving  Germany  in  the  days  before  the  Second  World  War, 
he  arrived  in  the  United  States  with  the  intention  of  practicing  pharmacy.  He  opened 
shop  in  a  black  community.  Because  of  high  demand,  he  soon  began  selling  spiritual 
supplies.25 

As  could  be  expected  from  whites  using  African- American  "superstition"  to  make 
a  living,  most  manufacturers  paid  little  attention  to  the  materials  used  in  traditional 
charms.  For  example,  nineteenth-century  conjurers  predominantly  worked  with  a  variety 
of  roots,  animal  parts,  and  other  naturally-occurring  materials.  Mail-order  manufacturers 
introduced  new  forms  of  magical  products.  Incense,  magical  soaps,  and  a  vast  array  of 
oils  took  their  place  alongside  old-fashioned  conjure  bags,  goopher  dust,  and  powders. 
More  recently,  aerosol  sprays  have  promised  supernatural  benefits  to  their  users.  Many  of 
these  items,  however,  do  not  employ  traditional  magical  materials.  According  to  a  1951 
article  in  Ebony,  New  Orleans  "luck  water"  was  nothing  more  than  water  colored  with 
Easter  egg  dye.  "Black  Cat  oil"  was  motor  oil,  with  soot  sometimes  added  for  color. 
"Love  oil"  was  perfumed  olive  oil.  Recent  products  follow  similar  rules.  A  can  of 
"Quick  Money"  aerosol  spray  obtained  by  the  author  appears  to  be  a  cheap  air  freshener, 
transformed  into  a  spiritual  product  by  its  label.  Even  when  mail-order  companies  have 
sold  supposedly  traditional  favorites,  they  often  differed  from  their  earlier  versions.  For 
instance,  nineteenth-century  African- Americans  recognized  John  the  Conqueror  as  the 


25 


Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  161-163;  Yronwode,  interview  by  author. 


195 
plant  more  commonly  known  as  Solomon's  Seal.  Twentieth-century  manufacturers, 
however,  have  usually  substituted  the  roots  of  the  jalap  plant,  a  native  of  Mexico.26 

Many  mail-order  manufacturers  also  entered  the  publishing  industry.  Since  the 
Civil  War,  African- American  literacy  had  been  on  the  rise,  and  manufacturers  were  quick 
to  take  advantage  of  this  fact.  The  result  was  books  aimed  at  those  interested  in 
practicing  hoodoo.  One  of  the  first  occult  books  specifically  marketed  to  black 
Americans  was  Aunt  Sally 's  Policy  Players '  Dream  Book  which  first  appeared  in  1 889.  It 
consisted  primarily  of  a  list  of  dream  subjects,  each  of  which  was  assigned  particular 
lucky  numbers  for  gambling  purposes.  Players  of  bolita,  a  popular  game  of  chance  that 
originated  in  Cuba,  were  particularly  fond  of  such  books.  A  researcher  for  the  Federal 
Writers'  Project  reported  that  stores  "in  Negro  neighborhoods  are  filled  with  books  on  the 
subject;  even  two  books  alleged  to  have  been  writings  of  Moses  inadvertently  left  out  of 
his  compilation  of  the  works  in  the  Bible  are  included."27  Not  all  such  works  focused  on 
gambling.  The  Life  and  Works  of  Marie  Laveau,  which  was  in  existence  by  the  1920s, 
includes  a  variety  of  spells,  including  ones  to  "uncross"  the  cursed,  to  secure  financial 
success,  and  to  win  love.  The  writer  professed  to  be  Marie  Laveau  herself,  though  this 
was  almost  certainly  false.  Nevertheless,  its  authorial  claims  guaranteed  its  popularity  in 
New  Orleans.  By  the  time  Zora  Neale  Hurston  investigated  hoodoo  in  the  city,  many 


26Mary  Owen,  Voodoo  Tales,  113;  Tyler,  164-166;  Long,  "John  the  Conqueror," 
47-53;  Clayton,  61. 

"Martin  Richardson,  "Bolita,"  in  "Negro  Folk  Lore  and  Custom,"  ed.  John  A. 
Simms,  in  "Florida  Folklore  &  Customs,"  ed.  Federal  Writers  Project,  17  August  1937,  P. 
K.  Yonge  Library  of  Florida  History,  University  of  Florida,  Gainesville. 


196 
practitioners  recited  spells  from  the  book  as  if  they  had  personally  learned  them  from  the 
great  Voodoo  queen.28 

In  some  cases,  mail-order  companies'  goods  introduced  new  influences  into 
African- American  conjure.  On  a  national  level,  they  helped  break  down  regional 
distinctions  by  providing  standardized  products  across  the  United  States.  Sonny  Boy 
Products,  originally  based  in  Miami,  Florida,  and  later  in  Birmingham,  Alabama,  has  long 
sold  its  goods  to  customers  as  far  away  as  California.  Similarly,  Robinson  Hall  of 
Micanopy,  Florida,  stocks  a  selection  of  Indio  Products  oils,  which  are  manufactured  in 
Los  Angeles,  California.29 

Books  played  an  even  greater  role  in  dissolving  local  idiosyncrasies.  For  instance, 
while  the  use  of  candles  in  conjure  was  usually  confined  to  areas  settled  by  the  Catholic 
French  and  Spanish,  it  has  now  spread  throughout  the  South.  This  diffusion  has  been 
largely  because  of  books  like  Henri  Gamache's  The  Master  Book  of  Candle  Burning,  an 
instruction  book  explaining  methods  of  burning  candles  to  achieve  a  variety  of  personal 
aims.  First  published  in  New  York  in  1942,  its  publishers  sold  it  throughout  the  United 
States.  It  continues  in  print  today.  Books  like  The  Life  and  Times  of  Marie  Laveau  and 


28Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  120-126;  Aunt  Sally 's  Policy  Players '  Dream  Book 
(New  York:  H.  J.  Wehman,  1889;  reprint,  Los  Angeles:  Indio  Products,  Inc.);  Hurston, 
"Hoodoo  in  America,"  328-357.  A  revised  edition  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  Marie 
Laveau  is  now  in  print  under  the  title,  Original  Black  and  White  Magic.  Another  work 
has  appropriated  the  former  title.  See  Marie  Laveau,  Original  Black  and  White  Magic 
(Los  Angeles:  International  Imports,  1991),  and  Raul  Canizares,  The  Life  and  Works  of 
Marie  Laveau:  Gris-gris,  Cleansings,  Charms,  Hexes  (Plainview:  Original  Publications, 
2001). 

"Catherine  Yronwode,  "Sonny  Boy  Products  at  the  Egypt  Candle  Store,"  Lucky 
Mojo  Curio  Company  Website,  1995-2002,  <http://www.luckymojo.com/sonnyboy.html> 
(18  June  2002);  Robinson,  interview  by  author. 


197 
the  more  recent  Famous  Voodoo  Rituals  &  Spells,  by  H.  U.  Lampe,  have  similarly  spread 
the  lore  of  New  Orleans  Voodoo  across  the  nation.  Other  books  combined  hoodoo 
traditions  from  throughout  the  South  into  a  single  work,  further  undermining  regional 
distinctions.  Papa  Jim  Magical  Herb  Book  is  a  recent  work  in  this  tradition.  Among  the 
more  than  two  hundred  botanical  products  which  filled  its  pages  were  Adam  and  Eve 
root,  formerly  popular  in  the  Latin  cultural  area;  Guinea  pepper,  usually  found  in  areas 
settled  by  the  English;  and  John  the  Conqueror,  common  in  both  areas.  Older  works  in 
the  same  vein  were  Henri  Gamache's  The  Magic  of  Herbs,  first  published  in  the  1940s, 
and  Lewis  de  Claremont's  Legends  of  Incense,  Herb  &  Oil  Magic,  which  appeared  in 
1938.30 

Mail-order  companies  also  introduced  influences  from  outside  the  United  States 
into  African-American  hoodoo.  As  with  mail-order's  effect  on  regional  distinctions, 
books  most  clearly  demonstrated  the  new  influences.  Catherine  Yronwode,  a 
contemporary  rootworker,  has  compiled  a  list  of  books  sold  by  King  Novelty,  a  sister 
company  of  Valmor,  in  1942.  Among  those  listed  were  Godfrey  Selig's  Secrets  of  the 
Psalms  and  The  6'h  and  Th  Books  of  Moses.  The  former  was  a  Kabbalistic  text,  first 
published  in  seventeenth-century  Pennsylvania.  Its  formulas  rested  on  the  belief  that 
properly  invoking  God,  angels,  or  demons  could  bring  about  the  will  of  petitioners.  The 


30Henri  Gamache,  The  Master  Book  of  Candle  Burning,  rev.  ed.  (Plainview: 
Original  Publications,  1998);  Laveau,  5-46;  H.  U.  Lampe,  Famous  Voodoo  Rituals  & 
Spells:  A  Voodoo  Handbook,  new  ed.  (Minneapolis:  Marlar  Publishing  Company,  1982); 
Papa  Jim  and  James  e  Sickafus,  Papa  Jim  Magical  Herb  Book,  2nd  ed.  (San  Antonio: 
Papa  Jim  U,  Inc.,  1985);  Henri  Gamache,  The  Magic  of  Herbs  Throughout  the  Ages 
(Plainview:  Original  Publications,  1985);  Lewis  de  Claremont,  Legends  of  Incense,  Herb 
&  Oil  Magic,  revised  ed.  (Arlington:  Dorene  Publishing,  1966);  Long,  Spiritual 
Merchants,  125. 


198 
6'h  and  Th  Books  of  Moses,  the  most  popular  conjure  text  during  the  1930s  and  1940s, 
was  a  similar  collection  of  incantations,  accompanied  by  a  selection  of  magical  seals. 
More  than  just  Kabbala  entered  the  field  of  hoodoo  in  the  early  twentieth  century.  The 
Orient,  long  defined  by  white  Americans  and  Europeans  as  exotic  and  magical,  came  into 
vogue.31  For  instance,  Lauren  William  DeLaurence  published  The  Great  Book  of  Magical 
Art,  Hindu  Magic,  and  East  Indian  Occultism  in  1 902.  In  this  book,  a  photograph  of 
DeLaurence  showed  him  dressed  as  a  Hindu  mystic.  Lewis  de  Claremont's  Legends  of 
Incense,  Herb  &  Oil  Magic,  had  a  similar  picture,  this  time  an  "artist's  conception"  of  the 
author,  depicting  him  wearing  a  turban  and  colonial  military  uniform.  Incense  burned  at 
his  right  hand.  Behind  him  stood  a  spirit  guide.  De  Claremont's  work  did  not  disappoint, 
discussing  Far  Eastern  incenses  alongside  European  spells  and  herbs  from  African- 
American  hoodoo.32 

After  the  advent  of  the  hoodoo  manufacturer,  conjure  shops  often  evolved  into 
retailers  of  the  products  of  the  larger  companies,  only  occasionally  producing  their  own 
products.  Dr.  Eagle,  who  operated  his  own  conjure  shop  during  the  middle  years  of  the 
twentieth  century,  stated,  "We  buy  straight  from  the  factory  in  Baltimore  now.  They  have 


3 'For  more  on  the  idea  of  the  Oriental,  see  Edward  W.  Said,  Orientalism  (New 
York:  Vintage  Books,  1979). 

32Yronwode,  "Hoodoo;"  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  122;  Catherine  Yronwode, 
"Secrets  of  the  Psalms:  The  Kabbalist  Influence  on  Hoodoo,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio 
Company  Website,  1995-2002,  <http://www.luckymojo.com/secretspsalms.html>  (18 
June  2002);  Godfrey  A.  Selig,  The  Secrets  of  the  Psalms,  new  ed.  (Arlington:  Dorene 
Publishing  Company,  1 982);  The  $h  and  Th  Books  of  Moses,  or  Moses '  Magical  Spirit 
Art,  new  ed.  (Arlington:  Dorene  Publishing  Company,  Inc.);  Lauren  William  DeLaurence, 
The  Great  Book  of  Magical  Art,  Hindu  Magic,  and  East  Indian  Occultism  (1902); 
Claremont,  59-69,  82-89.  According  to  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  118-119,  Eastern 
beliefs  became  so  strongly  associated  with  hoodoo  during  the  first  half  of  the  twentieth 
century,  that  some  conjure  shops  came  to  be  known  as  "Hindu  stores." 


199 
direct  contact  with  Egypt  and  the  Orient."33  Dr.  Eagles'  suppliers  probably  deceived  him 
about  their  products'  origins.  More  than  likely,  they  manufactured  them  on  their 
premises.  In  any  case,  his  statement  illustrated  the  rapidity  with  which  conjure  shops 
turned  to  mail-order  manufacturers  to  stock  their  businesses.  Though  many  have 
continued  to  carry  such  traditional  goods  as  conjure  bags  and  roots,  most  of  their 
inventory  has  typically  consisted  of  manufactured  goods.  In  an  article  on  Voodoo  for 
Ebony,  Edward  T.  Clayton  accompanied  his  text  with  several  photographs,  one  of  which 
depicts  spiritual  supplies  available  at  New  Orleans  hoodoo  drugstores.  Of  the  eight  items 
shown,  at  least  four  were  manufactured  items.  In  1967  and  1968,  David  J.  Winslow 
visited  the  Cavalry  Religious  and  Occult  Store  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  Like  many 
of  its  ilk,  the  shop  had  a  distinctive  odor,  "sandalwood  and  other  exotic  incenses"  in  this 
case.34  Its  proprietor,  Bishop  E.  E.  Everett,  B.S.,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  was  pastor  of 
the  Cavalry  Spiritual  Temple.  It  was  affiliated  with  the  Apostolic  Church  of  Christ  in 
God.  Though  Bishop  Everett  called  himself  a  "spiritual  advisor,"  his  business  differed 
little  from  the  conjure  shops  of  Florida,  Louisiana,  or  South  Carolina.  Commercially- 
bottled  "graveyard  dust,"  human  figures  made  of  wax,  various  oils,  bath  salts,  and  aerosol 
sprays  graced  the  shelves.  Among  his  best  sellers  were  candles  and  The  6th  and  7th  Books 
of  Moses?5 


33McTeer,  High  Sheriff,  35. 

34David  J.  Winslow,  "Bishop  E.  E.  Everett  and  Some  Aspects  of  Occultism  and 
Folk  Religion  in  Negro  Philadelphia,"  Keystone  Folklore  Quarterly  14  (1969):  61. 

35Clayton,  56;  Winslow,  59-80.  No  conjure  shop  that  I  have  visited  differs  in  any 
notable  respect  from  that  operated  by  Bishop  Everett,  with  the  exception  that  many 
proprietors  are  not  themselves  practitioners  of  magic. 


200 
In  the  nineteenth  century,  conjurers'  reputations  spread  by  word  of  mouth. 

Success,  or  at  least  a  reputation  for  it,  was  a  prerequisite.  For  manufacturers  and  some 

conjure  shops,  however,  word  of  mouth  was  not  enough  to  ensure  financial  prosperity. 

They  needed  a  new  marketing  strategy.  Their  most  basic  form  of  promotion  was  the 

catalog.  Most  manufacturers  and  many  conjure  shops  produced  them,  and  they  could  be 

picked  up  at  the  business  or  requested  by  mail  or  phone.  They  did  more  than  just  list  the 

items  available  by  mail.  Like  most  sales  catalogs,  they  also  promoted  the  items.  For 

example,  in  a  recent  Miller's  Rexall  Catalog,  an  advertisement  for  "Root  of  Life  Oil,  New 

Orleans  Class"  read,  in  part,  "ROOT  OF  LIFE  OIL  is  said  to  have  been  used  by 

CONJURE  MEN,  VOODOOS,  and  SPIRITUALISTS  for  anointing  their  bodies  and 

LUCK  CHARMS.  They  believe  that  the  oil  would  drive  away  EVIL  SPIRITS  and  bring 

GOOD  LUCK,  LOVE,  and  SUCCESS."36  Such  advertisements  were  usual  for  hoodoo 

catalogs.  A  few  have  been  more  creative.  Sonny  Boy  Products  currently  sells  a 

spellbook  that  doubles  as  a  catalog.  A  representative  selection  is  spell  eight,  a  ritual 

designed  to  keep  husbands,  wives,  and  lovers  from  adulterous  affairs.  The  first  step  is  to 

write  Psalm  37  on  a  piece  of  white  unlined  paper.  It  must  then  be  moistened  with  "Glory 

Water,"  a  Sonny  Boy  product.  Next,  one  should  bathe  for  seven  days  in  the  company's 

"Love  Drawing  Bath."  Finally,  success  remained  uncertain  unless  the  customer  wore 

Sonny  Boy's  "Strong  Love  Cologne"  when  with  their  loved  one.37 


36Donald  Miller  and  Richard  Miller,  Miller's  Catalog  (Atlanta,  Georgia:  By  the 
author,  87  Broad  Street,  ca.  2001),  12.  The  emphases  are  in  the  original. 

i7  Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guide  to  Success,  Power,  6th  ed.  (Birmingham,  Alabama: 
By  the  author,  1 715  3rd  Avenue  N,  2000),  9.  See  also  Mike  Rondo  and  Darren  Rondo, 
Rondo 's  Temple  Sales  Co.  Catalog  (Atlanta,  Georgia:  By  the  author,  171  Mitchell  Street, 
SW,  2000-2001). 


' 

201 
Manufacturers  also  employed  agents  to  ply  their  wares.  Black-oriented  cosmetic 
companies  had  earlier  proven  the  success  of  this  technique.  Because  many  mail-order 
companies  incorporated  both  beauty  merchandise  and  conjure  supplies  into  their  product 
lines,  their  owners  were  well  aware  of  the  concept's  profitability.  Among  the 
manufacturers  employing  local  dealers  were  Valmor  and  Keystone.  The  latter  recruited 
its  agents  through  the  Church  God  in  Christ  and  newspaper  advertisements.  Local  dealers 
served  a  second  purpose  by  providing  their  employers  with  information  on  local  beliefs 
and  product  demand.38 

Many  manufacturers  also  took  marketing  cues  from  the  proprietary  medicines 
industry.  Proprietary  medicines,  also  know  as  patent  medicines,  were  extremely  popular 
in  the  late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  century.  In  some  ways,  patent  medicine 
resembled  both  traditional  and  manufactured  conjure.  For  instance,  both  conjurers  and 
vendors  of  patent  medicine  adopted  the  title  of  "Doctor,"  regardless  of  their 
qualifications.  Titles  sold  products.  Likewise,  makers  of  patent  medicines  and  hoodoo 
supply  companies  frequently  credited  God  with  their  products'  efficacy.  For  example, 
Dr.  Muncy,  maker  of  a  kidney  cure,  reported  that  God  had  revealed  the  formula  to  him. 
Others  quoted  Bible  verses  on  their  products'  packaging.  Most  important,  both  hoodoo 
manufacturers  and  proprietary  medical  companies  sold  products  without  any 


38Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  194,  199-201,203-204.  See  also  Hyatt,  Hoodoo- 
Conjuration-  Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1 075- 1 088 . 


202 
scientifically-proven  beneficial  qualities.  The  application  of  their  techniques  to  the 

spiritual  supplies  industry  was  a  natural  development.39 

Spiritual  supply  manufactures  and  conjure  shops  adopted  two  marketing 
techniques  from  patent  medicine.  Like  black-oriented  cosmetic  companies,  owners  of 
patent  medicines  used  agents  to  promote  their  nostrums.  Since  colonial  days,  these 
agents,  or  even  the  proprietors  themselves,  traveled  the  nation  providing  public 
spectacles.  These  might  take  the  form  of  plays,  juggling  acts,  musical  performances,  or  a 
variety  of  other  attention-getting  devices.  All  incorporated  a  demonstration  of  the 
medicines  being  sold.  Most  hoodoo  agents  did  not  employ  large  scale  spectacles, 
choosing  low-key  agents,  instead.  Nevertheless,  there  were  exceptions.  When  Harry 
Middleton  Hyatt  interviewed  Herman  Henry,  he  learned  of  a  man  calling  himself  "Dr. 
Buzzard,"  who  performed  feats  of  magic  before  crowds  of  hundreds  before  selling 
magical  goods  to  them.40  Hyatt  commented  that  such  traveling  magicians  were  common 
a  generation  before  his  interviews.  Similarly,  "Black  Herman"  Rucker,  an  African- 
American  stage  magician,  published  works  on  hoodoo  and  other  forms  of 


39James  Harvey  Young,  The  Toadstool  Millionaires:  A  Social  History  of  Patent 
Medicines  in  America  before  Federal  Regulation  (Princeton:  Princeton  University  Press, 
1961),  144-244;  James  Harvey  Young,  American  Self-Dosage  Medicines:  An  Historical 
Perspective  (Lawrence:  Coronado  Press,  1974),  1-31. 

^According  to  Hyatt,  this  Dr.  Buzzard  was  neither  the  original  white  conjurer  or 
the  later  Stephaney  Robinson.  See  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork, 
4514. 


203 
supernaturalism.  His  acts,  performed  across  the  United  States,  helped  promote  his 
book.41 

The  influence  of  patent  medicines  is  much  clearer  in  mass  media  marketing. 
Beginning  in  the  early  eighteenth  century,  advertisements  for  proprietary  medicines 
appeared  in  periodicals.  By  the  late  nineteenth  century,  virtually  every  newspaper  carried 
them.  A  typical  example  was  a  notice  for  Warner's  Safe  Kidney  and  Liver  Cure,  which 
appeared  in  the  Key  West  Democrat  in  1882.  Below  a  drawing  depicting  an  African 
gathering  herbs,  the  text  proclaimed  that  "95  Per  Cent  of  all  diseases  arise  from  deranged 
kidneys  and  liver."  It  went  on  to  promise  that  for  "the  innumerable  troubles  caused  by 
unhealthy  Kidneys,  Liver,  and  Urinary  Organs;  for  the  distressing  Disorders  of  Women; 
for  Malaria,  and  for  physical  derangements,  generally,  this  great  remedy  has  no  equal."42 
Black-oriented  periodicals  carried  similar  sales  pitches.  For  instance,  the  Chicago 
Defender,  a  nationally-distributed  African- American  newspaper,  printed  advertisements 
for  Professor  J.  H.  Swayne's  Lone  Star  Tea  during  the  1920s.  It  claimed  to  be  even  more 
indispensable  to  good  health  than  was  Warner's  Safe  Kidney  and  Liver  Cure.  A  money- 
back  guarantee  supported  its  proprietors'  claims  that  it  was  a  "remarkable  remedy  for 
Rheumatism,  Liver,  Kidney,  Bladder,  Stomach  Troubles,  and  Lost  Manhood."43  A  line 


41  Young,  Toadstool  Millionaires,  190-202;  Michael  A.  Flannery,  "Good  for  Man 
or  Beast:  American  Patent  Medicines  from  1865  to  1938,"  Alabama  Heritage,  Winter 
2001,  10-11;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  4514;  Long,  Spiritual 
Merchants,  124-125;  Herman  Rucker,  Black  Herman  's  Secrets  of  Magic,  Mystery,  and 
Legerdemain  (New  York:  Dorene  Publishing,  1938). 

42"Wamer's  Safe  Kidney  &  Liver  Cure,"  Key  West  Democrat,  29  April  1882. 

43"Why  Be  Sick!"  The  Chicago  Defender,  17  January  1920,  2.  "Lost  manhood" 
was  a  polite  euphemism  for  impotence. 


204 
drawing  of  a  healthy,  muscular  man  drove  the  point  home.  Such  claims  were  no  more 
fantastic  than  the  properties  attributed  to  spiritual  products.44 

By  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  pitches  for  magical  products  took  their  place 
alongside  advertisements  for  patent  medicines  in  African- American  newspapers.  One  of 
the  first  appeared  in  the  March  11,  1898  issue  of  the  Alabama  Time-Piece.    It  was  a 
simple  notice  that  M.  P.  Fowler  had  rods  for  detecting  gold  and  silver  for  sale.  Over 
time,  the  impact  of  patent  medicines  began  to  grow  more  evident.  By  the  early  decades 
of  the  twentieth  century,  The  Chicago  Defender  was  publishing  several  magic-oriented 
advertisements.45  For  instance,  on  January  17,  1920,  Lucky  Star,  a  hoodoo  manufacturer, 
pitched  its  incense.  According  to  the  advertisement,  the  practice  of  burning  incense  "has 
never  been  without  results  ...  the  disinfecting,  deodorizing  and  perfumizing  vapors  thus 
produced  are,  and  always  were,  highly  conducive  to  health  and  happiness."46  One  of  the 
best  illustrations  of  the  link  between  patent  medicine  and  consumer  hoodoo  was  the  case 
of  the  Last  Chance  Medicine  Company,  which  advertized  in  The  Chicago  Defender  in 
1921.  Despite  proclaiming  that  its  products  were  medical  and  eschewing  any  mention  of 
luck,  magic,  or  the  like,  it  nevertheless  advertized  "a  full  line  of  John  the  Conqueror 
Root,  Eve  and  Adam  Root,  Five  Finger  Grass,  Orris  or  Love  Root,  Samson  Snake  Root, 


^Young,  American  Self-  Dosage  Medicines,  1 ;  "Why  Be  Sick!"  2. 

45 According  to  Caroline  Morrow  Long,  The  Chicago  Defenders'  first 
advertisement  for  the  supernatural  was  published  in  1910.  Nine  years  later,  the  first 
advertisement  for  products  traditionally  associated  with  hoodoo  appeared.  Long, 
Spiritual  Merchants,  130. 


46« 


Interesting  Facts,"  The  Chicago  Defender,  17  January  1920,  2. 


205 
Sacred  Powder,  and  Holy  Sandalwood  and  hundreds  of  others."47  Though  rare  before 
1920,  such  advertisements  were  plentiful  by  the  end  of  the  decade. 

The  spiritual  products  industry  also  learned  from  the  failures  of  the  patent 
medicine  companies.  In  the  first  few  years  of  the  twentieth  century,  proprietary 
medicines  remained  free  of  government  regulation.  Since  the  late  nineteenth  century, 
however,  they  had  been  under  attack  by  social  activists  for  their  questionable  value. 
According  to  muckraker  journalists,  like  Samuel  Hopkins  Adams  and  E.  W.  Kemble, 
makers  of  proprietary  medicine  were  perpetrating  fraud  by  selling  useless  or  even 
dangerous  nostrums  to  unsuspecting  customers  who  believed  their  fantastic  claims. 
Beginning  with  the  1906  Pure  Food  and  Drug  Act,  the  federal  government  required 
companies  to  print  their  products'  ingredients  on  their  labels.  A  major  loophole  was  that 
the  law  only  applied  to  ingredients  listed  in  the  official  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  or 
National  Formulary.  Not  until  a  patent  medicine  named  Elixir  Sulfanilamide  claimed 
over  one  hundred  lives  in  1937  did  the  federal  government  take  a  more  aggressive  stance. 
In  1938,  Congress  passed  the  Federal  Food,  Drug,  and  Cosmetic  Act.  Among  its 
provisions,  it  placed  all  medicines  under  government  oversight,  required  proprietors  to 
prove  the  safety  of  their  products,  and  allowed  the  government  to  stop  false  claims  by 
patent  medicines  without  proving  fraud.  Many  proprietary  medicine  companies,  unable 
or  unwilling  to  comply  with  the  new  law,  closed  down.  Gone  were  the  days  when 


47"Roots  &  Herbs  of  All  Kinds  Bought  &  Sold,"  The  Chicago  Defender,  10 
September  1921,3. 


206 
nostrums,  like  Warner's  Safe  Kidney  and  Liver  Cure  and  Professor  J.  H.  Swayne's  Lone 
Star  Tea,  could  claim  to  cure  virtually  any  ailment.48 

The  Federal  Food,  Drug,  and  Cosmetic  Act  may  have  dealt  a  serious  blow  to 
patent  medicines,  but  hoodoo  manufacturers  and  retailers  found  a  way  around  the  law. 
They  had  long  faced  the  threat  of  prosecution  under  charges  of  mail  fraud,  medical 
malpractice,  and  a  variety  of  local  laws  forbidding  the  sale  of  charms.  The  easiest  way  to 
avoid  legal  trouble  was  simply  to  avoid  making  any  claims  for  their  products.  To  do  so 
while  continuing  to  attract  customers  was  a  vexing  problem.  The  solution  was  to 
describe  products'  "alleged"  powers,  a  practice  occasionally  employed  even  before  the 
passage  of  the  1938  law.  For  example,  Hyatt  reported  that  he  encountered  circulars  sold 
by  two  hoodoo  manufacturers  carrying  the  disclaimer,  "We  make  no  preternatural  claims 
on  any  of  these  products  and  sell  them  merely  as  curios."49  Others  incorporated  the 
disclaimer  into  their  product  descriptions.  Folklorist  Loudell  Snow's  "Mail  Order 
Magic"  included  an  undated  reproduction  of  an  advertisement  for  "the  Glowing  Black 
Cat  Talisman,"  produced  by  an  Indiana  spiritual  manufacturer.  In  its  product  description 
it  reported  that,  the  "alleged  BLACK  CAT  BONE  is  said  to  be  very  magnetic  and 
powerful,"  and  for  a  mere  $35.00,  customers  could  obtain  a  "REPLICA  OF  THE 
ALLEGED  BLACK  CAT  BONE  WITH  SECRET  INFORMATION  NEVER  BEFORE 
PUBLISHED  IN  BOOKLET  FORM."50  Manufacturers  and  conjure  shops  continue  the 


48Young,  Toadstool  Millionaires,  205-244;  Flannery,  16-17;  Young,  American 
Self-Dosage  Medicines,  25-3 1 . 

49Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1075; 

50Snow,  "Mail-Order  Magic,"  47. 


207 
practice  today.  In  2000,  Rondo'  Temple  Sales  Company  published  a  catalog  with  the 
disclaimer,  "The  publishers  of  this  book  wish  to  have  it  understood  that  the  statements 
made  are  not  to  be  taken  as  facts,  but  only  as  things  people  do  and  believe.  We  make  no 
claim  to  these  rituals  being  of  help  to  anyone."51  The  company  nevertheless  offers  a  list 
of  products  and  their  uses,  sometimes  backing  them  with  testimonials.52 

Despite  the  decline  in  traditional  conjure,  one  would  be  wrong  to  assume  that 
commodification  was  a  necessarily  negative  development.  As  George  Ritzer  has  pointed 
out  in  The  McDonaldization  of  Society,  consumerism  brings  important  advantages  to 
producers  and  buyers.  First,  spiritual  products  guaranteed  increased  efficiency  for  both 
parties.  Neither  had  to  undertake  lengthy  rituals  nor  spend  time  searching  for  herbs  in  the 
forest.  On  the  contrary,  conjurers  and  customers  alike  could  simply  order  ready-made 
magical  items  straight  from  manufacturers.  Individuals  in  need  of  a  quick  fix  need  only 
step  into  the  nearest  spiritual  supply  store  to  gain  instant  gratification.  Just  as  important, 
the  availability  of  similar  oils,  floor  washes,  candles,  and  other  items  throughout  the 
United  States  helped  standardize  conjure,  making  costs  easily  calculable  and  products 
more  uniform.  By  the  early  decades  of  the  twentieth  century,  buyers  could  reasonably 
expect  to  receive  consistent  levels  of  quality  and  quantity  when  they  made  a  purchase, 


5 'Rondo  and  Rondo,  2. 

52Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  127-137;  McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  23; 
Snow,  "Mail  Order  Magic,"  47,  51-52;  Rondo  and  Rondo,  25-29. 


208 
regardless  of  where  they  lived  or  whether  they  visited  a  conjure  shop  or  ordered  from  a 
catalog.53 

While  gaining  efficiency  and  uniformity,  conjure  lost  its  personal  nature.  Shops 
selling  ready-made  charms  eliminated  customers'  need  to  individually  interact  with 
conjurers.  At  any  rate,  shops  frequently  did  not  employ  practitioners.  Consumers, 
however,  need  not  even  enter  a  shop.  They  could  order  through  the  mail,  buying  products 
which  had  never  come  in  contact  with  a  professional  hoodooist.  With  mass  advertising, 
even  the  importance  of  reputation  declined.  In  some  cases,  the  manufacturers  went  so  far 
as  to  discount  the  effectiveness  of  their  products  in  efforts  to  avoid  legal  troubles.  An 
impersonal  form  of  conjure  without  conjurers  had  developed. 

Although  conjure  shops  and  manufacturers  had  permanently  transformed  African- 
American  supernaturalism,  some  elements  have  remained  constant.  First,  spiritual 
products  performed  the  same  motivational  function  as  they  did  for  their  traditional 
forebears.  During  the  nineteenth-century,  someone  like  Henry  Bibb  might  visit  a  conjurer 
to  purchase  a  root  harvested  from  the  forest  to  prevent  beatings  by  an  unjust  master.  In 
the  twentieth  century,  an  African- American  was  more  likely  to  consult  a  catalog  and 
order  a  "Job  Kit"  of  manufactured  items  to  help  him  or  her  keep  or  get  a  good  job.  Both 
individuals  were  concerned  with  improving  their  employment,  but  the  situation  and 
products  had  changed.  Similarly,  during  the  late  nineteenth  century,  Henry  F.  Pyles 


53George  Ritzer,  The  McDonaldization  of  Society,  New  Century  ed.  (Thousand 
Oaks:  Pine  Forge  Press,  2000),  11-16.  For  other  relevant  works  on  consumerism  and 
commodification,  see  Paul  R.  Mullins,  Race  and  Affluence:  An  Archaeology  of  African 
American  and  Consumer  Culture  (New  York:  Kluwer  Academic/Plenum  Publishers, 
1999),  and  Grant  McCracken,  Culture  and  Consumption:  New  Approaches  to  the 
Symbolic  Character  of  Consumer  Goods  and  Activities  (Bloomington  and  Indianapolis: 
Indiana  University  Press,  1988)  104-117. 


209 
thought  he  had  to  purchase  a  mixture  of  pepper,  wool,  "Pammy  Christy  beans,"  and  rusty 
iron  in  a  bag  tied  with  horsehair  and  soaked  in  whisky  to  win  a  woman's  love.  Had  he 
lived  in  the  late  twentieth  century,  he  could  have  simply  sent  for  a  "Love  Pentacle,"  an 
amulet  from  the  ancient  Kabbalistic  Key  of  Solomon  the  King.  Mail-order  companies  in 
no  way  decreased  the  versatility  of  hoodoo.  Luck,  love,  money,  protection,  and  revenge 
could  all  be  had  with  manufactured  magic.54 

Magical  commodities  also  continued  to  follow  the  same  rules  as  traditional 
charms  and  spells.  The  principle  of  contagion  was  often  evident.  For  instance,  according 
to  the  Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guide  to  Success,  Power,  customers  could  keep  unwanted 
people  out  of  their  cars  by  using  "Cast  Off  Evil"  incense  and  bath,  preventing  theft  and 
driving  away  undesirable  passengers.  Buyers  should  sprinkle  the  incense  on  the  floor 
mats  and  apply  the  bath  to  the  steering  wheel  using  a  white  cloth.  These  uses  of  Cast  Off 
Evil  items  were  examples  of  contagion  because  of  their  use  as  repellents  for  those  who 
approached  within  an  unspecified  area  of  influence.  Several  other  spells  from  the  Sonny 
Boy  Blue  Book  Guide  used  written  names,  images  "captured"  in  mirrors,  and  objects  once 
in  contact  with  customers'  or  their  enemies'  bodies  for  their  contagious  properties.55 

Likewise,  the  principle  of  sympathy  remained  an  important  part  of  manufactured 
magic.  Around  half  of  the  Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guides'  spells  employ  Biblical  passages, 
especially  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  Psalm  23,  both  of  which  focus  on  God's  protection  and 


54Bibb,  26-27;  Rondo  and  Rondo,  15;  Pyles,  328-329;  Miller  and  Miller,  Miller's 
Catalog,  20.  See  also  The  Key  of  Solomon  the  King  (Clavicula  Salomonis),  trans,  and  ed. 
By  S.  Liddell  MacGregor  Mathers,  with  a  Foreowrd  by  Richard  Cavendish  (York  Beach: 
Samuel  Weiser,  Inc.,  1972). 

55 Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book,  10,  12,  14,  16. 


210 
guidance.  Biblical  passages  were  not  the  only  form  that  sympathy  could  take.  For 
example,  a  spell  from  Marie  Laveau's  Original  Black  and  White  Magic  entitled,  "The 
Lady  Who  Has  an  Empty  House,"  recommended  the  use  of  "Magnetic  Sand"  in 
conjunction  with  "Easy  Life  Oil,"  "Compelling  Oil,"  "Nine  Lucky  Mixture,"  and  other 
magical  items  to  bring  men  and  riches  to  one's  door.  Because  of  its  ability  to  attract 
metal  to  itself,  Magnetic  Sand  was  a  powerful  sympathetic  charm  to  draw  both  men  and 
money.56 

Easy  Life  Oil,  Compelling  Oil,  and  Nine  Lucky  Mixture  illustrate  a  form  of 
sympathy  that  first  appeared  in  the  spiritual  products  industry.  Since  most  manufacturers 
used  few  traditional  materials  in  their  goods,  they  relied  on  their  products'  physical 
characteristics,  packaging,  and  names  to  express  their  alleged  magical  qualities.  A 
modern  example  is  Indio  Products'  "Holy  Oil."  According  to  Master  Bishop  F.  L. 
Robinson,  it  clears  the  thoughts  when  used  in  conjunction  with  Bible  reading.  Composed 
of  Duoprime  70  and  fragrance,  it  has  nothing  to  recommend  it  beyond  an  agreeable  odor 
and  clear  appearance,  a  label  showing  crosses  and  flowers,  and  self-proclaimed  holiness. 
These  very  qualities,  however,  make  it  effective  in  the  eyes  of  customers.  Its  pleasant 
smell  and  clarity  indicate  its  purity  and  beneficial  qualities.  The  label  emphasizes  its  holy 
properties  through  its  name  and  the  crosses.  Flowers,  which  adorn  the  bases  of  the 
crosses,  both  allude  to  herbal  medicine  and  further  emphasize  the  formula's  reputed 
positive  powers.  Other  manufactured  products  employ  the  principle  of  sympathy  as  well. 
Seven  Sisters  of  New  Orleans  brand  "Court  Case  Just  Judge  Incense"  uses  blue  as  the 
primary  color  of  its  label  and  of  the  incense  itself.  The  label  also  sports  a  line  drawing  of 


56 


Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guide,  8-2 1 ;  Laveau,  1 1 . 


211 
a  judge,  dwarfed  by  a  colorful  flower-bearing  root.  Blue  was  long  associated  with 
protection.  Moreover,  the  judge  and  root  motif  hearkened  back  to  protective  items  like 
the  herb,  chewing  John  the  Conqueror,  which  had  once  offered  protection  from  slave 
masters  and  enemies.  Some  manufacturers  used  Indians,  who  symbolized  healing  and 
occult  aptitude,  to  further  their  products'  claims.  A  contemporary  example  is  Sonny 
Boy's  Old  Indian  3 -Day  Quick  Money  aerosol  spray,  which  is  adorned  with  a  drawing  of 
a  Native  American,  labeled  "Chief  Tar,"  flanked  by  two  green  hands  grasping  money. 
Hindu  and  other  Oriental  themes  have  also  been  popular  in  product  names  and  on  labels, 
a  practice  common  in  patent  medicine  since  the  nineteenth  century.57 

As  during  the  nineteenth  century,  some  items  had  power  beyond  their  sympathetic 
values.  In  the  past,  John  the  Conqueror  root  had  been  widespread  and  popular,  and  now, 
Sonny  Boy  Products  offers  "High  John  Conqueror"  in  seven  different  forms:  candle,  oil, 
incense,  bath,  salt/sand,  soap,  and  spray.  While  most  of  Sonny  Boy's  items  have  specific 
uses,  John  the  Conqueror  is  good  for  anything.  An  advertising  blurb  in  the  company's 
Blue  Book  Guide  reads,  "Works  only  for  you.  Add  to  any  product.  Conquers  all."58 
"Alleged  Black  Cat  Bones"  were  similarly  powerful,  possessing  a  variety  of  uses  from 
bringing  good  luck  to  winning  love  to  guaranteeing  rebirth  after  death.  The  Bible  and 
other  Christian  religious  objects  continued  to  fulfill  their  versatile  roles,  as  well.  During 


"Robinson,  interview  by  author;  Mooney,  "Cherokee  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,"  44;  Young,  Toadstool  Millionaires,  173-179.  For  further  elaboration  and 
examples,  see  Long  Spiritual  Merchants,  106-1 19. 


58 


Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guide,  2-3. 


212 
the  twentieth  century  they  have  been  joined  by  Buddhas,  which  can  reputedly  bring  luck 
in  a  variety  of  pursuits.59 

Without  doubt,  the  survival  of  the  conjurer  was  the  most  important  carryover 
between  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries.  Eugenia  Brown's  encounter  with  Aunt 
Jenny  Dailey  was  but  one  example.  Seven  Sisters  of  Hogansville,  Alabama,  continued  to 
serve  her  community  well  into  the  twentieth  century.  The  same  was  true  of  the 
redoubtable  Dr.  Buzzard,  who  did  not  pass  away  until  1947.  Not  all  hoodooists, 
however,  were  holdovers  from  the  nineteenth  century.  James  Spurgeon  Jordan  of  North 
Carolina  did  not  gain  a  reputation  as  a  rootworker  until  the  early  twentieth  century, 
though  he  had  been  dabbling  in  hoodoo  since  the  1 890s.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Buzzard, 
his  son-in-law  took  over,  continuing  to  practice  until  his  death  in  1997.60 

Despite  the  presence  of  impersonal,  easily  obtainable  mail-order  products, 
conjurers  remained  powerful  forces  in  their  communities.  Furthermore,  the  decline  of 
traditional  conjure  in  the  face  of  the  spiritual  products  industry  generated  a  crisis  of 
supply,  leading  to  greater  demand  for  hoodooists'  services.  In  keeping  with  classical 
economics,  prices  skyrocketed.  Whereas  Dr.  John  Bayou  of  New  Orleans  had  reportedly 
left  behind  $50,000  in  real  estate  at  his  death  in  1885,  several  modern  hoodooists 
approached  or  surpassed  such  riches.  When  Julius  P.  Caesar  died  in  the  early  twentieth 
century,  he  was  worth  approximately  $150,000.  According  to  a  price  list  compiled  by 
employees  of  the  Federal  Writers  Project,  New  Orleans  hoodooists  charged  prices  ranging 


59Sonny  Boy  Blue  Book  Guide,  2-3;  Snow,  "Mail-Order  Magic,"  47,  51-52;  Miller 
and  Miller,  Miller's  Catalog,  39,  42. 

60Eugenia  Brown,  interview  by  author;  Carmer,  215-222;  Pinckney,  102,  1 19-120, 
149-150;  Johnson,  46. 


213 
from  $5.00  for  love  spells  to  $500.00  for  spells  to  kill  or  drive  enemies  insane.  Wealthy 
conjurers  also  lived  outside  New  Orleans.  Nancy  Rhett,  a  native  of  the  South  Carolina 
Low  Country,  reported  that  she  once  had  a  striking  experience  while  visiting  a  bank.  In 
front  of  her  in  line  was  an  unusual  man.  His  clothing  was  covered  in  what  appeared  to  be 
diamonds.  Moreover,  he  was  depositing  a  stack  of  checks  over  an  inch  thick.  Only  after 
asking  the  teller  about  his  identity  did  she  learn  that  he  was  a  well-known  rootworker.61 
Likewise,  observers  reported  that  James  Jordan  earned  an  average  of  at  least  $3,000  a 
month  from  1940  to  1960.  On  some  occasions,  he  made  this  amount  in  a  single  week. 
He  used  the  money  he  made  from  conjure  to  purchase  several  other  businesses,  including 
farms  and  a  logging  company.  In  the  twenty- five  years  following  1937,  he  made  about 
$2,000,000  from  his  various  pursuits.62 

Twentieth-century  hoodooists,  like  their  nineteenth-century  counterparts, 
possessed  more  than  just  economic  power.  According  to  Eugenia  Brown,  Aunt  Jenny 
Dailey  was  feared  by  all,  regardless  of  race.  Dr.  Buzzard  was  held  in  respectful  awe  by 
those  who  had  heard  of  his  powers.  During  the  1920s,  High  Sheriff  James  McTeer  of 
Beaufort  County,  South  Carolina,  pursued  a  medical  malpractice  investigation  against  the 
dread  sorcerer,  but  he  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  collect  evidence.  The  reason  for  this 
dilemma  was  that  witnesses  were  unwilling  to  testify  against  or  even  discuss  his  doings. 


6lRhett  could  not  remember  whether  the  conjurer  was  Dr.  Buzzard  or  Dr.  Eagle. 
Dr.  Eagle  was  the  most  likely  candidate,  since  he  lived  until  at  least  the  1970s. 

62Hearn,  "The  Last  of  the  Voudoos,"  726-727;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration- 
Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1642;  Hazel  Breaux  and  Robert  McKinney,  Federal  Writers 
Project,  "Hoodoo  Price  List,"in  "Robert  Tallant  Papers,"  City  Archives,  New  Orleans 
Public  Library,  New  Orleans,  320-321;  Nancy  Rhett,  proprietor  of  the  Rhett  Gallery,  Inc., 
interview  by  author,  24  October  2001,  Beaufort,  SC,  notes,  personal  collection, 
Birmingham,  AL;  Johnson,  60. 


214 
After  much  difficulty,  the  sheriff  convinced  a  prisoner,  who  was  also  a  client  of  Dr. 
Buzzard,  that  he  could  protect  him  through  his  own  magical  powers.  The  prisoner,  who 
had  recently  purchased  some  "medicine"  from  the  root  doctor,  agreed  to  face  Dr.  Buzzard 
and  confirm  that  he  had  sold  him  the  nostrum.  His  resolve  did  not  last  long.  When 
brought  before  the  conjurer,  he  began  to  groan  and  "beat  himself  as  if  he  were  covered 
with  stinging  ants."63  After  a  few  moments,  the  prisoner  collapsed  and  began  foaming  at 
the  mouth.  Fear  had  eliminated  McTeer's  best  hope  for  a  successful  prosecution.64 

Not  all  hoodoo  doctors  were  simply  objects  of  fear.  Some  became  community 
leaders.  The  most  impressive  example  of  conjurers'  leadership  role  was  James  Jordan. 
During  the  middle  decades  of  the  century,  a  settlement  of  several  hundred  grew  around 
his  practice,  becoming  known  as  Jordansville.  The  community  was  composed,  as  his 
biographer  put  it,  of  "his  legal  children;  off  children;  grandchildren;  waifs  snuggling 
beneath  his  protective  wings;  men  and  women  in  his  employ  and  their  families;  the 
multitudes  bridled  with  economic  obligations  or  professional  services."65  He  provided  for 
the  physical  needs  of  those  who  lived  there  and  expected  obedience  in  return. 
Government  officials  and  law  enforcement  found  it  easier  to  work  through  Jordan  than  to 
assert  their  jurisdiction.  Even  the  fearsome  Dr.  Buzzard  lent  positive  leadership  in  his 
community,  paying  for  the  rebuilding  of  a  church  destroyed  by  fire  in  1937.66 


24. 


63McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  24. 

^Eugenia  Brown,  interview  by  author;  McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  23- 


65Johnson,  68. 

66Johnson,  67-78;  Pinckney,  154. 


215 
A  few  hoodooists'  fame  spread  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  their  communities, 
rivaling  the  reach  of  spiritual  product  companies.  For  example,  James  Jordan  operated  a 
brisk  mail-order  business  throughout  the  country.  It  was  also  not  uncommon  to  find  cars 
from  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  other  northern  states  parked  outside  Jordan's  office. 
Dr.  Buzzard,  though,  was  the  best  known  conjurer  of  the  twentieth  century.  He  was  a 
living  legend  in  South  Carolina,  where  conjurers  were  plentiful.  Mamie  Garvin  Fields, 
who  began  teaching  school  on  John's  Island,  South  Carolina,  in  1909,  testified  to  Dr. 
Buzzard's  reputation.  According  to  Fields,  a  local  hoodoo  doctor,  Jimmy  Brisbane,  was 
"what  you  would  call  a  higher  type  of  witchdoctor,  because  he  knew  how  to  drive  all  the 
way  to  Beaufort,  which  was  noted  for  this:  a  witchdoctor  of  witchdoctors  lived  there,  a 
Dr.  Buzzard."67  He  was  also  known  much  further  afield.  Federal  Writers  Project 
employees  discovered  that  his  fame  had  spread  to  coastal  Georgia  by  the  1930s.  Harry 
Middleton  Hyatt  found  that  informants  recognized  his  name  as  far  away  as  Louisiana, 
Florida,  and  Virginia.68 

-A  few  conjurers  ignored  the  spiritual  products  industry,  continuing  to  practice  the 
traditional  magic  of  their  ancestors.  One  example  was  "Aunt"  Jenny  Dailey.  Aunt  Jenny, 
a  former  slave,  lived  alone  near  Burnt  Corn,  Alabama,  during  the  first  few  decades  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Both  blacks  and  whites  feared  her.  During  the  late  1930s,  a  young 
white  girl,  named  Eugenia  Brown,  had  an  unnerving  encounter  with  the  conjurer.  One 


67Mamie  Garvin  Fields,  with  Karen  Fields,  Lemon  Swamp  and  Other  Places:  A 
Carolina  Memoir  (New  York:  The  Free  Press,  1983),  121. 

68 Johnson,  57-67,  132-133;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork, 
891-905,  1414-1423,  1515-1517,  1646,  4513-4527,  4749-4751;  Georgia  Writers'  Project, 
Savannah  Unit,  Drums  and  Shadows,  3 1,  60. 


216 
day,  she  and  her  friends  were  playing  on  her  front  lawn  when  they  spotted  Aunt  Jenny 
approaching.  As  she  passed  by  Eugenia  and  her  companions,  she  halted,  drew  a  cross  in 
the  dirt,  and  spat  on  it.  Having  done  so,  she  moved  on.  Eugenia  feared  she  had  been 
cursed.  Drawing  a  cross  in  the  dirt,  however,  had  been  a  common  protective  ritual  during 
the  nineteenth  century  and  may  have  remained  so  in  the  next.  Eugenia  also  related  that 
Aunt  Jenny  carried  roots  and  other  traditional  magical  materials  with  her  wherever  she 
went.  Conjurers  like  Aunt  Jenny  were  far  from  extinct,  but  they  were  not  as  common  as 
they  once  had  been.69 

Most  conjurers  changed  with  the  times,  learning  from  their  competitors  in  the 
spiritual  products  industry.  They  quickly  grasped  the  benefits  of  advertising.  One  of  the 
earliest  to  do  so  was  the  second  Marie  Laveau,  who  distributed  cards  describing  her 
business.  By  the  early  twentieth  century,  conjurers  were  also  advertising  in  newspapers. 
These  advertisements  typically  touted  the  hoodooists'  supernatural  gifts  and  abilities  to 
help  those  in  need.  For  instance,  a  1923  advertisement  by  "Madam"  Ida  B.  Jefferson  of 
Longview,  Texas,  proclaimed  that  she  could  "reach  any  disease  you  were  not  born 
with."70  Furthermore,  her  abilities  allowed  her  to  cure  illnesses  without  any  information 
from  patrons.  All  that  she  needed  from  customers  was  $25.00.  In  1974,  a  supposed  son 
of  Dr.  Buzzard  used  the  pages  of  The  Miami  Times  to  proclaim  that  he  was  the  "World's 


69Eugenia  Brown,  interview  by  author,  9  May  2002,  Owassa,  AL,  notes,  personal 
collection,  Birmingham,  AL;  Steiner,  "Superstitions  and  Beliefs  from  Central  Georgia  " 
262. 

70"Madam  Ida  B.  Jefferson,"  The  Chicago  Defender,  7  July  1923,  18. 


217 
Greatest  Spiritualist"  and  "King  of  the  Blessing."  Similar  advertisements  continue 
today.71 

Hoodooists  adopted  much  more  than  marketing  techniques  from  their 
manufacturing  competitors.  First,  many  began  to  use  manufactured  hoodoo  in  their 
practice.  Beginning  around  1927,  James  Jordan  studied  many  of  the  books  produced  by 
spiritual  supply  companies,  including  Gamache's  The  Master  Book  of  Candle  Burning, 
The  6'h  and  7th  Books  of  Moses,  and  Selig's  Secrets  of  the  Psalms.  He  went  even  further, 
buying  roots,  patent  medicines,  and  ready-made  conjure  bags  from  mail-order  companies 
for  resale  in  his  shop.  Before  this  time,  he  gathered  most  of  his  materials  from  nearby 
forests.  After  discovering  the  ease  of  buying  wholesale,  he  largely  gave  up  this  practice. 
Jordan  was  not  alone.  Master  Bishop  Robinson  likewise  sells  manufactured  spiritual 
products.  His  aid  is  still  needed,  however,  because  he  alone  knows  the  Biblical  passages 
to  use  with  each  item.  Root  doctor  Pop  Williams,  who  also  retails  manufactured 
products,  shares  Robinson's  philosophy.  He  says  that  his  knowledge  of  spiritual 
products'  uses  sets  him  apart  from  the  average  salesman.72 

As  part  of  their  adaptation  to  competition  with  the  spiritual  products  industry, 
hoodooists  have  also  sought  to  change  their  image.  One  way  to  do  so  was  by  adopting 
the  Orientalism  promoted  by  many  spiritual  products  companies.  Julius  P.  Caesar  did  so. 
When  he  performed  his  spells,  he  usually  wore  a  black  robe  and  green  turban.  More 


71Tallant,  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans,  94-95;  "Madam  Ida  B.  Jefferson,"  18.  For 
some  recent  examples  of  hoodoo  advertisements,  see  The  Miami  Times,  26  March  1998, 
5D;  "Dr.  Buzzard's  Son,"  The  Miami  Times,  28  November  1974,  33. 

72Johnson,  56-59;  Robinson,  interview  by  author;  Thomas  Williams,  interview  by 
author. 


218 
recently,  an  African- American  resident  of  St.  Petersburg,  Florida,  practiced  under  the 
name  "Prophet  Warkiee  Sarheed."  When  he  worked,  he  donned  a  "seeing  and  hearing 
hat,"  which  resembled  an  orange  turban.73 

More  common  than  Oriental  trappings  were  concerted  efforts  by  magic  workers  to 
distance  themselves  from  evil  magic.  Published  literature  had  gone  far  to  excoriate 
African- American  magic.  Whites,  in  particular,  strongly  associated  blacks' 
supernaturalism  with  Satanism.  As  a  result,  most  African-American  sorcerers  abandoned 
words  like  "hoodoo,"  "Voodoo,"  "witchcraft,"  and  "rootwork."  Instead,  they  began  to 
refer  to  themselves  as  "mediums,"  "spiritual  advisors,"  "reverends,"  "psychics,"  and 
"healers."74  Many  twentieth-century  practitioners  have  designated  hoodoo  and  Voodoo  as 
evil,  while  proclaiming  their  own  God-given  abilities  for  good.  Master  Bishop  Robinson 
draws  a  further  distinction  between  hoodoo  and  what  he  calls  "spiritual  advising." 
Hoodoo  or  Voodoo,  he  argues,  is  a  lower  form  of  supernaturalism  designed  to  compel 
others  to  do  the  will  of  the  practitioner.  Spiritual  advising,  however,  deals  with  Christ, 
making  it  hoodoo's  more  powerful  and  more  benevolent  counterpart.  Pop  Williams  also 
argues  that  hoodoo  is  a  lower  form  of  supernatural  power,  adding  that  those  who  practice 
it  have  less  knowledge  of  the  materials  they  use.75 


73Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1645-1646,  2784,  4612. 

74The  possibility  of  prosecution  for  medical  malpractice  further  spurred  many  to 
drop  the  title  of  "doctor"  in  favor  of  religious  designations,  such  as  "reverend"  and 
"bishop."  For  example,  see  Robinson,  interview  by  author,  and  "Mother  Mary,"  The 
Miami  Times,  4  July  1974,  37. 

75Robinson,  interview  by  author;  Thomas  Williams,  interview  by  author.  For 
examples  of  the  changing  terminology,  see  "A  Spiritual  Medium,"  The  Chicago 
Defender,  14  August  1915,  3,  and  "Opportunity  Awaits  You,"  The  Miami  Times,  9 
January  1960,  11.  Some  non-practitioners  have  also  adopted  such  terminology.  For 


219 
Some  titles,  such  as  "spiritual  advisor"  and  "reverend,"  had  an  added  benefit  in 
that  they  linked  hoodoo  to  religion.  Such  terms  filled  roles  analogous  to  manufacturers' 
disclaimers.  Hoodoo  "doctors"  were  open  to  prosecution  for  practicing  medicine  without 
a  license.  Ministers  performing  religious  rituals  were  protected  by  the  United  States 
Constitution.  By  the  second  half  of  the  twentieth  century,  conjure  "doctors"  were  rare.76 

For  most  of  the  twentieth  century,  conjure's  future  has  been  in  doubt.  Throughout 
the  nation  conjurers'  charms  were  giving  way  to  commodities.  Despite  coming  more  in 
line  with  white  Americans'  beliefs  and  practices,  however,  both  hoodooists  and  mail- 
order manufacturers  remained  liable  for  prosecution  if  they  continued  to  practice  their  art. 
In  part,  this  was  because  of  white  Americans'  genuine  concern  for  the  physical  welfare  of 
those  ingesting  hoodooists'  concoctions  or  being  duped  by  unscrupulous  frauds.  More 
important,  conjure  was  not  yet  an  acceptable  tradition  in  the  eyes  of  a  people  who  had 
long  linked  blackness  with  inferiority  and  supernaturalism  with  backwardness.  In 
addition,  many  shops  and  manufacturers  have  experienced  declining  sales  over  the  past 
few  decades.  According  to  Richard  Miller,  who  sells  spiritual  products  throughout  the 
United  States,  the  most  notable  change  in  the  industry  since  he  began  working  in  the  late 
1960s  has  been  declining  sales  in  the  South.  Several  venerable  conjure  shops  and 
manufacturing  companies  disappeared  in  the  second  half  of  the  century.  Among  them 
were  Valmor,  which  was  bought  out  by  a  competitor  uninterested  in  its  spiritual  products, 


instance,  while  looking  for  Master  Bishop  Robinson  in  Micanopy,  Florida,  I  asked  a 
woman  if  she  knew  of  any  hoodoo  doctors  in  the  area.  She  replied  that  there  had  once 
been  one,  but  that  he  had  died.  Then,  she  took  me  to  meet  Robinson,  whom  she 
described  as  a  healer. 

76Elon  Ali  Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo  in  Three  Urban  Areas  of  Indiana:  Folklore 
and  Change"  (Ph.D.  diss.,  Indiana  University,  1982),  93-1 16. 


220 
and  all  of  New  Orleans'  older  hoodoo  drugstores.  Most  of  the  great  traditional  conjurers 
also  passed  away.  James  Jordan,  the  last  root  doctor  to  exert  absolute  power  over  a  large 
following,  died  in  1962.77 

On  the  other  hand,  plenty  of  hoodooists  and  spiritual  product  manufacturers  and 
retailers  continued  to  survive.  Many  entered  the  business  in  the  second  half  of  the 
century.  Pop  Williams  did  not  embark  on  his  rootworking  career  until  the  1980s.  New 
spiritual  products  businesses,  like  Indio,  have  also  opened  in  recent  years.  In  part,  these 
new  hoodooists  and  businesses  were  responses  to  forces  which  began  to  affect  the  United 
States  during  the  1950s.  In  the  closing  decades  of  the  twentieth  century  and  the  opening 
years  of  the  next,  hoodoo  has  gained  a  new  life  and  relevance  through  an  ongoing 
struggle  between  old  notions  of  hoodoo  as  at  best  suspect  and  at  worst  diabolic  and  a 
reevaluation  of  African- American  conjure  as  an  alternative  "religion."78 


150. 


77Miller,  interview  by  author;  Johnson,  132-133;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  149- 
78Thomas  Williams,  interview  by  author;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  262. 


CHAPTER  6 

THE  MAGIC  CONTINUES: 

HOODOO  AT  THE  TURN  OF  THE  TWENTY-FIRST  CENTURY 

Reverend  Claudia  Williams  owns  Starling  Magickal  Books  &  Crafts  in  New 
Orleans.  In  addition  to  books,  she  sells  a  small  selection  of  black-oriented  spiritual 
supplies  and  a  variety  of  European  magical  materials.  She  also  practices  Voodoo. 
Williams'  background  gave  little  indication  of  her  future  career.  She  was  born  to  white 
Episcopal  parents  in  Manhattan.  As  a  small  child,  psychic  experiences  sparked  her 
interest  in  the  occult.  Williams  never  believed  in  the  faith  of  her  parents,  who  urged  her 
to  seek  out  her  own  path.  Today,  she  is  an  ordained  Minister  of  Ancient  Ways,  with 
specialization  in  Lakota  Native  American  beliefs,  Yoruba-based  religions,  witchcraft,  and 
some  ceremonial  magic.1 

Clearly,  Reverend  Claudia  Williams  is  not  a  traditional  conjurer.  Her  race, 
religious  beliefs,  and  regional  origin  mark  her  as  a  member  of  a  new  brand  of 
practitioners  that  has  arisen  in  the  late  twentieth  century.  During  the  nineteenth  century, 
magical  practices  originating  in  Africa  survived  by  drawing  on  European  and  Native 
American  beliefs.  In  the  early  twentieth  century,  individual  conjurers  and  large 
companies  turned  to  shops,  mail  order,  and  mass  media  to  distribute  their  products  to  a 
broader  area.  Hoodoo  developed  further  in  the  second  half  of  the  twentieth  century. 


'Claudia  Williams,  proprietor  of  Starling  Magickal  Books  and  Crafts,  interview  by 
author,  16  November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio  recording,  personal 
collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 


221 


222 
During  this  time,  conjure  interacted  with  new  features  in  American  society,  most 

noticeably  scientific  investigations  of  hoodoo,  the  rise  of  New  Age  ideology,  and 

increased  immigration  from  Latin  America.  It  not  only  survived  but  adapted  and 

prospered  despite  the  changing  situation.  The  result  has  been  a  growing  acceptance  of 

hoodoo,  even  beyond  the  borders  of  black  society.2 

By  the  late  twentieth  century,  old-fashioned  conjurers  who  gathered  their 
materials  from  nature  were  rare.  In  one  sense,  traditional  hoodoo  was  a  rapidly  fading 
practice.  On  the  other  hand,  consumer  conjure  had  itself  become  a  tradition. 
Manufacturers  had  existed  since  the  late  nineteenth  century.  Even  companies  like 
Valmor  and  Keystone  Laboratories  were  serving  second-  and  third-generation  customers. 
Spiritual  supply  stores  had  been  around  since  at  least  the  1880s  and  probably  earlier.  To 
put  this  in  perspective,  other  traditional  features  of  black  life  had  pedigrees  dating  from 
the  same  period.  In  music,  blues  and  ragtime,  the  precursors  of  jazz,  evolved  in  the  late 
nineteenth  century.  The  same  was  also  true  of  legal  segregation,  which  whites  imposed 
on  African- Americans  during  the  post-Reconstruction  Redeemer  period.3 

Another  product  of  the  nineteenth-century  was  "tourist  Voodoo,"  and  like  the 
manufactured  form,  it  has  also  become  a  tradition.  In  New  Orleans,  Voodoo  designed  for 
the  tourist  trade  can  be  traced  to  the  later  St.  John's  Eve  dances,  to  which  spectators  were 
admitted  for  a  fee.  During  the  mid- 1870s,  the  Pontchartrain  Railroad  made  late-night 


Deborah,  proprietor  of  Henderson  Health,  interview  by  author,  15  July  2002, 
Bessemer,  AL,  notes,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL.  "Deborah"  is  a  pseudonym 
requested  by  the  interviewee  to  protect  her  identity. 


5i 


Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  261-263;  Davis,  251;  Cable,  Grandissimes,  123,  147- 
156,291-293,325,412. 


223 
trips  to  the  nearby  lake  for  those  who  hoped  to  witness  the  rituals.  By  1 885,  at  least  one 
guidebook  featured  a  chapter  on  Voodoo,  describing  the  St.  John's  Eve  rites  for  visitors 
to  the  city.  At  times  the  crowds  of  sightseers  numbered  in  the  thousands.  Key  West, 
Florida,  had  its  own  "tourist  Nanigo"  by  the  turn  of  the  century,  personified  by  one  of  the 
religion's  former  leaders,  Ganda,  who  danced  for  a  fee.4 

In  recent  years,  Voodoo-oriented  tourism  has  become  a  substantial  industry, 
particularly  in  New  Orleans.  Visitors  can  purchase  Voodoo  dolls  in  many  French  Quarter 
shops.5  Robert  Tallant's  Voodoo  in  New  Orleans  and  The  Voodoo  Queen,  which  are 
easily  obtainable  from  most  of  the  city's  bookstores,  provide  entertaining  blends  of 
folklore  and  fact  to  curious  readers.  A  few  shops  sell  nothing  but  tourist-oriented  hoodoo 
materials.  Marie  Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo  and  Rev.  Zombie's  Voodoo  Shop  are  on 
and  just  off  Bourbon  Street,  respectively.  Their  goods  range  from  traditional  conjure 
formulas  to  tee  shirts.  Another  store,  Voodoo  Authentica,  is  on  North  Peters  Street, 
which  runs  alongside  the  Mississippi  River.  In  addition  to  souvenirs,  it  "provides 
authentic  ritual  entertainment"  for  business  functions  and  social  events.6  Those  who  are 
interested  in  more  than  just  souvenirs  can  take  one  of  the  city's  many  Voodoo  tours. 
Guides  take  visitors  to  see  such  sites  as  the  grave  of  Marie  Laveau,  Congo  Square,  and 


4Touchstone,  375-386;  Kennedy,  "Nanigo  in  Florida,"  155;  William  H.  Coleman, 
ed.,  Historical  Sketch  Book  and  Guide  to  New  Orleans  and  Environs  (New  York:  Will  H. 
Coleman,  1885),  229-231. 

historically,  dolls  were  rare,  but  not  unknown,  in  hoodoo. 

6"Welcome  to  Voodoo  Authentica  (TM),"  Voodoo  Authentica  Website,  2000- 
2002,  <http://www.voodooshop.com>  (9  July  2002). 


224 
the  offices  of  current  practitioners.  There  is  even  a  New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo 

Museum  which  displays  many  artifacts  from  Haiti  and  Louisiana.7 

Louisiana  is  not  the  only  place  where  one  can  experience  African- American 
magical  practices  from  a  tourist's  perspective.  Excursions  offered  by  Gullah  Tours  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  include  tales  of  Dr.  Buzzard.  Moreover,  one  need  not  leave 
home  to  get  a  taste  of  hoodoo  from  a  non-participatory  viewpoint.  Information  on 
Voodoo  is  readily  available  to  cyber  tourists,  courtesy  of  websites  provided  by  the  New 
Orleans  Historic  Voodoo  Museum,  Voodoo  Authentica,  and  other  tourist  attractions. 
While  touring  or  visiting  an  internet  site,  one  can  keep  thirst-free  with  a  bottle  of  Voodoo 
Rain  fruit  drink,  which  comes  in  such  flavors  as  "Black  Magic,"  "Mojo  Luv,"  and  "Lucky 
Devil."  Each  bottle  is  complete  with  a  list  of  the  flavor's  herbal  ingredients  along  with 
their  reputed  benefits.  The  drink's  magical  image  is  complete  with  a  logo  in  which  the 
"V"  in  "Voodoo"  is  formed  by  two  pins,  doubtless  designed  to  inspire  thoughts  of 
Voodoo  dolls.8 

Many  owners  of  tourist  businesses  are  believers  in  or  at  least  respectful  of 
Voodoo.  At  the  same  time,  however,  they  follow  the  example  of  Voodoo  Rain,  relying 
on  traditional  stereotypes  of  Voodoo  and  hoodoo  to  attract  their  primarily  white  clientele. 


7"Welcome  to  the  New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo  Museum,"  The  New  Orleans 
Historic  Voodoo  Museum  Website,  <http://www.voodoomuseum.com>  (9  July  2002). 
For  an  example  of  a  Voodoo  tour,  see  "Voodoo  and  Cemetery  Tour,"  Haunted  History 
Tours  Website,  1996-2001,  <http://www.hauntedhistorytours.com>  (9  July  2002). 

8Charles  deV.  Williams,  "Gullah  Tours,"  The  Charleston  Post  and  Courier,  13 
April  1999;  reprint,  Gullah  Tour  Website,  11  April  2002, 

<http://www.gullahtours.com/courier.html>  (9  July  2002);  "Welcome  to  Voodoo 
Authentica  (TM);"  "Welcome  to  the  New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo  Museum."  Voodoo 
Rain  is  a  product  of  Everfresh/LaCROK  Beverages. 


225 
For  example,  the  front  cover  of  a  brochure  issued  by  the  New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo 

Museum  announces  its  goal  as  "proclaiming  multicultural  understanding."  The  text 
proposes  that  those  who  visit  will  "[m]arvel  as  history  and  mystery  unfolds  from  the  lips 
of  your  knowledgeable  guide."  While  there,  patrons  will  hear  "authentic  sounds  of  ritual 
drumming  and  chanting,"  as  they  "view  our  permanent  collection  of  bizarre  and  rare 
historic  displays  -  some  belonging  to  the  Great  Marie  Laveau  herself!"  Alongside  the 
words  are  intentionally  grotesque  drawings  of  dolls  resembling  skeletons,  idols  with 
protruding  tongues,  and  scantily-clad  women  dancing  with  snakes.  Similarly,  Marie 
Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo  employs  actual  hoodoo  practitioners  and  sells  many  old- 
fashioned  herbal  goods.  At  the  same  time,  its  location  on  Bourbon  Street  guarantees  that 
most  visitors  are  tourists,  uninterested  in  Voodoo  beyond  its  value  as  a  source  of  mystery 
and  entertainment.  In  short,  while  visiting  conjure  shops  and  ordering  spiritual  supplies 
by  mail  are  longstanding  African- American  customs,  Voodoo  tourism  is  a  distinctly  white 
tradition.9 

During  most  of  the  twentieth  century,  participation  in  hoodoo  has  remained 
outside  the  mainstream  American  experience.  Whites  have  usually  viewed  it  as  backward 
or  even  satanic.  For  instance,  in  a  1927  article  for  The  New  Republic,  Lyle  Saxon 
compared  New  Orleans  Voodoo  to  the  "black  masses"  of  European  witchcraft.  Most 
middle-class  African- Americans  also  denigrated  conjure.  In  1951,  an  article  in  Ebony 


'"New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo  Museum"  Brochure  (New  Orleans:  Marie 
Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo);  "Marie  Laveau's  Magic  Herb  Packets"  (New  Orleans: 
Marie  Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo).  My  own  experience  confirms  the  tourist  orientation 
of  Marie  Laveau's  House  of  Voodoo.  When  I  visited  the  shop  in  November  2001, 1  asked 
an  employee  if  he  would  be  able  to  give  me  his  views  on  hoodoo.  To  my  surprise,  he  said 
that  he  did  not  know  enough  to  help  me. 


226 
described  Voodoo  as  "a  snake-worshiping  cult"  which  had  developed  into  a  "lucrative 
racket."  After  describing  the  respect  that  modern  believers  held  for  Marie  Laveau,  the 
author  concluded,  "Like  her  present-day  contemporaries,  Marie  Laveau,  too,  was  a 
charlatan  of  the  worst  sort."10  A  similar  article,  "Would  You  Believe  It .  . .  Superstition 
Lives!,"  appeared  in  a  1976  issue  ofEbony.u 

Three  major  developments  have  helped  conjure  begin  to  escape  its  negative 
image.  First,  many  blacks  have  embraced  scientific  explanations  for  hoodoo,  usually 
drawing  from  the  fields  of  psychology  and  psychiatry.  While  interviewing  African- 
Americans  for  a  doctoral  dissertation  in  1977,  Elon  Ali  Kulii  discovered  that  a  number  of 
believers  interpreted  hoodoo  as  a  scientific,  not  a  supernatural,  practice.  As  one 
informant  put  it,  "Well,  hoodoo  had  its  beginnings  back  in  the  late  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  among  the  slave  plantations.  The  people  of  poor  economic  status. 
Therefore,  it  substituted  for  what  we  use  psychiatry  for  today."12  Another,  when  asked 
about  other  names  for  conjure,  replied,  "Mainly  science,  the  study  of  science  . . .  But 
many  stupid  or  uninformed  people  call  it  voodoo  or  hoodoo."13  Elaborating,  he  described 
the  practice  of  conjure  as  the  workings  of  "mind  over  matter."14 

Many  modern  hoodooists  practice  with  the  understanding  that  they  are  providing 
valuable,  scientifically  sound  services.  One  of  the  first  explicitly  to  profess  this  belief 


10Clayton,  54,60-61. 

"Lyle  Saxon,  "Voodoo,"  The  New  Republic,  23  March  1927,  135;  Bims,  118-122. 

12Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo,"  41 1-412. 

13Ibid.,  385. 

14Ibid.,417. 


227 
was  the  white  witch  doctor,  James  McTeer.  He  advocated  the  incorporation  of  rootwork 
into  medicine  and  psychiatry  as  a  means  of  calming  the  minds  of  those  who  believed 
themselves  to  be  under  the  influence  of  evil  conjure.  Today,  "Pop"  Williams  describes 
himself  as  "a  salesman  with  good  advice."15  He  maintains  that  most  of  his  clients' 
problems  are  the  results  of  troubled  minds.  His  job  is  to  relieve  their  emotional  distress. 
To  do  so,  he  often  prescribes  spiritual  products.  Nevertheless,  he  argues  that  these  lack 
any  power  outside  of  his  clients'  beliefs.16 

The  primary  reason  for  African- Americans'  scientific  approach  to  hoodoo  is  that 
modern  science  itself  has  taken  a  more  positive  view  of  conjure  than  in  years  past. 
Anthropologists  were  the  first  to  examine  the  effectiveness  of  magic,  typically  through 
the  idea  of  "voodoo  death."  Walter  B.  Cannon's  seminal  essay,  "'Voodoo'  Death,"  did 
more  than  any  other  work  to  bring  hoodoo  into  the  realm  of  science.  First  published  in 
American  Anthropologist  in  1942,  it  presented  the  novel  argument  that  those  who 
believed  themselves  cursed  were  indeed  harmed  by  extreme  stress.  In  the  years  since  the 
publication  of  Cannon's  article,  others  have  taken  up  the  problem.  One  of  the  more 
influential  essays  of  the  last  two  decades  has  been  Harry  Eastwell's  "Voodoo  Death  and 
the  Mechanism  for  Dispatch  of  the  Dying  in  East  Arnhem,  Australia."  According  to 
Eastwell,  fear  of  curses  was  usually  present  in  individuals  who  had  committed  such  acts 
as  murder  or  other  crimes  that  would  likely  anger  members  of  their  communities.  What 
followed  was  an  escalating  cycle  of  psychological  and  social  pressures.  First,  fear 


author. 


15Thomas  Williams,  interview  by  author. 

16McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  12-14,  27;  Thomas  Williams,  interview  by 


228 
exacerbated  any  preexisting  medical  conditions,  potentially  damaging  the  victim's  health. 
In  time,  friends  and  family  members  often  also  came  to  believe  that  the  supposed  victim 
was  cursed.  Their  convictions  reinforced  those  of  the  sufferer,  making  it  difficult  for  him 
or  her  to  lead  a  normal  life.  After  a  period  of  hope,  the  loved  ones  and  the  victim  would 
surrender  to  despair,  and  the  afflicted  would  prepare  to  die.  On  the  sufferer's  part, 
abandonment  of  everyday  activities,  including  eating  and  drinking,  followed.  In  cases 
examined  by  the  author,  families  facilitated  the  victims'  deterioration  by  taking  away 
water.  Their  intent  was  to  help  the  spirit  to  part  from  the  body.  The  result  was  death. 
Despite  their  titles,  however,  neither  Cannon  nor  Eastwell's  essays  addressed  Voodoo 
proper.  On  the  contrary,  both  used  cases  from  Australia  to  generalize  about  the 
potentially  harmful  effects  of  magic.17 

Mental  health  professionals  were  the  first  to  apply  the  anthropologists'  theories  of 
Voodoo  death  to  African- American  hoodoo  cases.  In  addition,  while  anthropologists 
highlighted  the  negative  power  of  magic,  psychologists  and  psychiatrists  also  came  to  see 
its  beneficial  properties.  For  instance,  in  a  1966  article  in  Psychosomatic  Medicine, 
psychiatrist  David  C.  Tinling  reported  on  seven  incidences  of  "hexed"  African- Americans 
at  the  University  of  Rochester  Medical  Center  in  New  York.  Each  patient  complained  of 
symptoms  which  initially  defied  diagnosis.  In  some  cases,  doctors  eventually  discovered 
physical  or  mental  roots  for  the  ailments.  Others  remained  unidentified.  Tinling 
concluded  that  physicians  should  ask  patients  whether  they  had  been  victims  of  hoodoo  as 
part  of  their  treatment.  Doing  so  would  help  them  to  differentiate  between  physical  or 
mental  disorders  and  disorders  prompted  largely  by  conjure.  While  the  former  could 


n 


Cannon,  186-190;  Marvin  Harris,  16;  Eastwell,  8-17. 


229 
often  be  treated  with  orthodox  medicine  and  psychology,  the  latter  required  the  services 

of  rootworkers.  A  few  years  after  Tinling's  article  appeared,  Ronald  M.  Wintrob  went 

even  further,  stating  that  doctors  and  psychiatrists  should  always  incorporate  hoodoo  into 

their  treatments  for  those  who  had  faith  in  its  power.  To  do  so,  health  care  professionals 

should  ask  patients  about  their  beliefs,  allowing  them  to  build  trust  and  a  rapport  with 

their  caregivers.  Moreover,  he  stated  that  "medical  personnel  should  expect  their  patients 

who  believe  in  malign  magic  to  consult  a  native  healer  or  a  rootworker  before,  during,  or 

after  treatment."18  Throughout  the  1970s,  similar  articles  appeared  with  increasing 

frequency  in  periodicals  aimed  at  doctors,  nurses,  psychiatrists  and  psychologists,  and  the 

general  public.  Their  popularity  continues  to  the  present.19 

Conjure  has  drawn  on  sources  outside  psychology,  however.  Chief  among  these 

is  parapsychology,  a  fringe  science  with  the  sole  aim  of  finding  scientific  explanations  for 

various  aspects  of  the  supernatural.  Parapsychology  originated  as  a  branch  of  psychology 

during  the  late  nineteenth  century.  In  the  1920s,  emerged  as  a  distinct  field.  William 

McDougall,  an  Oxford  psychologist,  coined  the  term  "parapsychology,"  after  he  moved  to 

Duke  University  and  began  to  study  what  was  more  commonly  known  as  psychic 

phenomenon.  By  1937,  the  field  had  a  laboratory  at  Duke  University  and  its  own 


18Wintrob,  326. 

19David  C.  Tinling,  "Voodoo,  Root  Work,  and  Medicine,"  Psychosomatic 
Medicine  5  (1967):  483-490;  Wintrob,  324-326.  For  examples  of  some  recent  articles, 
see  William  M.  Straight,  "Throw  Downs,  Fixin,  Rooting  and  Hexing,"  The  Journal  of  the 
Florida  Medical  Association,  Inc.  70  (1983):  635-641,  and  Jeremy  Brown,  "Vital  Signs: 
A  Deadly  Specter,"  Discover  Magazine,  September  1 995,  48-5 1 .  See  also  Wilburn  H. 
Watson,  ed.,  Black  Folk  Medicine:  The  Therapeutic  Significance  of  Faith  and  Trust  (New 
Brunswick  and  London:  Transaction  Books,  1984),  and  Wonda  L.  Fontenot,  Secret 
Doctors:  Ethnomedicine  of  African  Americans  (Westport  and  London:  Bergin  &  Garvey, 
1994). 


230 
scholarly  journal.  The  Parapsychological  Association  became  the  first  professional 
organization  for  paranormal  researchers  in  1957.20 

Most  parapsychologists  devote  themselves  to  the  search  for  proof  of  extrasensory 
perception,  psychokinesis,  and  life  after  death.  Recently,  however,  some  have  begun  to 
examine  magic.  For  instance,  according  to  Michael  Winkelman's  "Magic:  A  Theoretical 
Reassessment,"  it  can  be  explained  as  the  workings  of  psi  phenomenon.21  Therefore, 
differences  among  cultures  are  only  superficial  and  derived  from  local  religious  beliefs 
and  values.  Although  research  specifically  addressing  hoodoo  is  rare,  parapsychology 
indirectly  promotes  it  by  providing  an  ostensibly  scientific  explanation  for  its  power.  For 
instance,  whereas  blacks  have  traditionally  attributed  conjurers'  powers  to  God  or  spirits, 
parapsychologists  would  more  likely  identify  ESP  or  psychokinesis  as  their  source.22 

Parapsychology  rivals  psychology  in  its  influence  on  hoodoo.  James  McTeer, 
who  offered  psychological  explanations  for  hoodoo's  supposed  effectiveness,  also 
claimed  to  have  inherited  extrasensory  perception  from  his  mother  and  grandmother.  The 
most  telling  example  of  hoodoo's  assimilation  of  parapsychology  is  the  proliferation  of 
"psychics"  catering  to  black  customers.  A  perusal  of  African- American  newspapers  is  the 


20Loyd  Auerbach,  ESP,  Hauntings  and  Poltergeists:  A  Parapsychologist  's 
Handbook  (New  York:  Warner  Books,  1986),  65-77.  Please  note  that  Duke  University 
has  severed  its  ties  with  the  parapsychology  laboratory. 

21"Psi,"  as  defined  by  Loyd  Auerbach,  means  "exchanges  of  information  between 
living  things  (mainly  people,  of  course),  or  between  living  things  and  the  environment,  or 
are  influences  of  living  things  on  the  environment,  which  occur  without  the  use  of  what 
we  call  the  'normal'  senses,  and  do  not  seem  to  be  explicable  by  the  'known'  physical 
laws  of  nature."  Auerbach,  15-16. 

22 Auerbach,  15-55;  Michael  Winkelman,  "Magic:  A  Theoretical  Reassessment," 
Current  Anthropology  23  (1982):  37-66.  See  also  Benjamin  B.  Wolman,  ed.,  Handbook 
of  Parapsychology  (New  York:  Van  Nostrand  Reinhold  Company,  1977). 


231 
easiest  way  to  identify  such  professionals.  For  instance,  one  page  of  a  recent  issue  of  The 

Miami  Times  includes  two  advertisements  for  psychics.  Close  examination  of  their  texts 

reveals  that  these  "psychics"  hoped  that  African- Americans  would  recognize  them  as 

rootworkers.  One  advertisement  states  that  "Niva"  can  "remove  spells,  voodoo,  evil, 

curse  jinx,  [and]  demons."  The  second,  by  "Sister  Lisa,"  states  that  she  sells  roots, 

candles,  and  incense,  all  common  hoodoo  paraphernalia.23 

A  few  scientists  have  sought  the  source  of  conjure's  power  in  biological  factors. 
In  1967,  an  article  in  The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  argued  that 
poisons  were  responsible  for  at  least  some  hoodoo-induced  sicknesses.  The  most 
important  work  supporting  a  biological  basis  for  conjure,  however,  has  been  Faith 
Mitchell's  Hoodoo  Medicine.  Mitchell,  a  medical  anthropologist,  collected  dozens  of 
herbal  remedies  among  the  Gullah  of  the  South  Carolina  Sea  Islands.  In  addition  to 
describing  their  traditional  uses  among  African- Americans,  she  also  listed  their  official 
pharmacological  properties.24 

Although  many  conjurers  and  believers  have  accepted  psychological  or 
parapsychological  explanations  for  hoodoo's  reputed  powers,  the  number  who  admit  to 
using  herbal  remedies  and  other  biologically  active  agents  is  small.  Certainly,  the  threat 
of  prosecution  for  practicing  medicine  without  a  license  is  a  powerful  incentive  to  avoid 


23McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  12-14,  27;  "Psychic  Readings  by  Niva," 
The  Miami  Times,  26  March  1998,  5D;  "Sister  Lisa,"  The  Miami  Times,  26  March  1998, 
5D.  See  also  Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo,"  93-1 16,  which  offers  a  different  perspective  on 
the  transformation  of  hoodooists  into  psychics. 

24J.  Robin  Saphir,  Arnold  Gold,  James  Giambrone,  and  James  F.  Holland, 
"Voodoo  Poisoning  in  Buffalo,  NY,"  The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
202  (1967):  437-438;  Mitchell,  41-100. 


232 
them.  At  the  same  time,  most  conjurers  now  rely  on  manufactured  spiritual  supplies  from 

large  mail-order  companies.  Herbal  remedies  are  no  longer  readily  available.  Most 

important,  however,  African-Americans  now  have  greater  access  to  trained  doctors. 

Despite  these  hurdles,  a  few  practitioners  have  adopted  elements  of  the  biological 

explanation  for  hoodoo.  For  instance,  Phoenix  Savage,  a  small-scale  hoodooist  who 

works  primarily  for  family  and  friends,  reports  that  her  most  requested  products  are 

medicinal  items,  used  to  treat  specific  ailments.  Nevertheless,  most  of  her  clients  use  her 

products  in  conjunction  with  the  services  of  a  physician.  Despite  their  small  numbers  at 

present,  practitioners  accepting  a  biological  basis  for  conjure  are  likely  to  grow  because 

herbalism  has  become  increasingly  popular.25 

Modern  hoodooists  have  also  drawn  heavily  from  the  occult  revival  known  as  the 

New  Age  Movement.  The  New  Age  Movement  is  a  complex  topic  and  deserves  some 

introduction.  Its  roots  extend  into  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  the  United 

States,  the  1830s  and  1840s  were  a  period  of  remarkable  religious  ferment  which 

witnessed  the  rise  of  several  new  religions,  including  Mormonism,  Transcendentalism, 

and  Spiritualism.  Transcendentalism  and  Spiritualism,  both  incorporating  a  strong  mystic 

element,  contributed  strongly  to  the  promotion  of  occult  traditions  in  the  United  States. 

Later  in  the  century,  another  new  religion,  Theosophy,  proclaimed  the  oneness  of  all  life, 

consciousness,  and  power,  an  idea  which  would  inspire  much  of  New  Age  thought.  In 

addition,  it  stressed  the  use  of  science  to  explain  the  workings  of  the  supernatural,  a 

position  reinforced  by  parapsychology  in  the  twentieth  century.  At  the  same  time 


"Phoenix  Savage,  hoodoo  practitioner,  interview  by  author,  28  July  2002,  phone 
call  between  Birmingham,  AL  and  Nashville,  TN,  notes,  personal  collection, 
Birmingham,  AL. 


233 
Theosophy  was  taking  hold,  proponents  of  New  Thought  were  proclaiming  a  philosophy 

of  health  which  stressed  "inner  healing."  According  to  its  proponents,  each  human  had  a 

spiritual  nature.  The  key  to  health  was  recognizing  one's  spiritual  being  and  allowing  the 

divine  to  work  cures  in  the  flesh.  Ultimately,  wrong  thoughts  translated  into  physical 

illness.  Right  ones  led  to  health.  In  sum,  New  Thought  was  a  philosophy  of  positive 

thinking,  another  idea  that  would  reappear  in  the  New  Age  Movement.26 

Today's  New  Age  Movement  was  sparked  primarily  by  the  interaction  of 

increased  East  Asian  immigration  and  the  rise  of  the  counterculture.  Asian  Buddhists, 

Hindus,  and  Sikhs  had  been  in  the  United  States  well  before  the  twentieth  century,  but 

their  numbers  were  limited  by  the  tight  regulations  of  the  Oriental  Exclusion  Act.  In 

1965,  however,  President  Lyndon  Johnson  rescinded  the  act.  The  result  was  a  massive 

influx  of  new  East  Asian  immigrants,  including  religious  teachers.  For  the  history  of  the 

New  Age  Movement,  the  timing  was  fortuitous.  As  the  Vietnam  War  dragged  on  and 

racial  strife  divided  the  nation,  the  younger  generation  abjured  the  values  of  white 

middle-class  Protestant  America.  In  many  cases,  part  of  their  rejection  was  the 

abandonment  of  Christianity.  Following  the  flood  of  Asian  immigrants,  Eastern  religions 

were  the  obvious  countercultural  choice.  Zen  Buddhism,  transcendental  meditation,  and 

yoga  were  but  a  few  of  the  most  popular  faiths.  Like  older  American  occultism,  they 


26Richard  Kyle,  The  New  Age  Movement  in  American  Culture  (Lanham,  New 
York,  and  London:  University  Press  of  America,  Inc.,  1995),  27-39;  Kay  Alexander, 
"Roots  of  the  New  Age,"  in  Perspectives  on  the  New  Age,  ed.  James  R.  Lewis  and  J. 
Gordon  Melton  (Albany:  State  University  of  New  York  Press,  1992),  30-47. 


234 
tended  to  stress  mysticism,  oneness  with  the  universe,  and  realization  of  one's  own  divine 
potential.27 

The  movement  peaked  after  the  decline  of  the  counterculture.  By  the  1970s  and 
1980s,  it  had  spread  beyond  its  Eastern  base  to  incorporate  a  wide  range  of  other  practices 
and  faiths,  including  extraterrestrial  cults,  astrology,  neopaganism,  and  magical 
herbalism.  Today,  however,  the  movement  is  in  decline.  According  to  a  1991  New  York 
Times  survey,  only  28,000  Americans  identified  themselves  as  "New  Agers."  Many 
others  share  the  ideology  but  eschew  the  term  "New  Age,"  because  of  the  media's 
popularization  of  it  during  the  1980s.  The  future  of  the  movement  is  likewise  threatened 
by  an  aging  membership  consisting  largely  of  baby  boomers  who  became  interested  in  it 
during  the  years  of  the  counterculture.  Ironically,  while  many  began  their  involvement  as 
part  of  a  rebellion  against  societal  norms,  most  have  now  moved  into  the  middle  class. 
They  tend  to  be  white,  educated,  upwardly-mobile,  and  socially  respectable.  Despite  the 
movement's  declining  presence,  it  has  dramatically  affected  American  culture. 
Herbalism  has  become  widely  accepted  as  a  healthful  activity.  Polls  indicate  that 
approximately  one  third  of  Californians  participate  in  yoga  or  meditation  on  a  daily  basis. 
Some  scholars  estimate  that  as  many  as  twenty-five  percent  of  all  Americans  have 
participated  in  some  aspect  of  the  movement.28 

The  key  elements  of  the  New  Age  Movement  are  not  easy  to  define.  Yet, 
common  features  appear  throughout  the  movement.  For  instance,  most  of  its  members 


"Kyle,  10-11,49-53,57-74. 

28Kyle,  4-5,  10-11,  53-74;  Heelas,  106-132;  James  R.  Lewis,  "Approaches  to  the 
Study  of  the  New  Age  Movement,"  in  Perspectives  on  the  New  Age,  ed.  James  R.  Lewis 
and  J.  Gordon  Melton  (Albany:  State  University  of  New  York  Press,  1992),  11-12. 


235 
embrace  pacifism,  political  reform,  feminism,  and  environmentalism,  all  of  which  they 

adopted  from  the  counterculture  of  the  1960s  and  1970s.  More  important,  most  scholars 

agree  that  the  movement's  diverse  adherents  share  a  faith  in  self-spirituality.  According 

to  Paul  Heelas,  self-spirituality  consists  of  three  main  elements.  First,  New  Agers  hold 

that  personal  experience  should  take  precedence  over  belief.  In  this  view,  belief  is  an 

organizational  system  which  inhibits  spiritual  development.  Second,  each  person  is  a 

spiritual  being  whose  own  mind  is  the  only  valid  source  of  truth.  Finally,  to  realize  one's 

spiritual  potential,  he  or  she  must  abandon  socialized  values  and  institutions,  such  as 

organized  religion  and  societal  norms  of  conduct.29 

Self-spirituality  created  several  other  features  shared  by  all  or  most  of  the  groups 

within  the  movement.  Among  the  chief  of  these  characteristics  are  extreme 

individualism,  subjective  morality,  belief  in  the  power  of  magic,  holistic  approaches  to 

health,  religious  pluralism  understood  as  different  paths  to  truth,  and  denial  of  authority. 

Despite  their  rejection  of  organized  religion,  New  Agers  see  no  contradiction  in 

borrowing  from  a  variety  of  traditional  religions  in  their  search  for  personal  spiritual 

uplift.  Indeed,  adherents  of  virtually  all  aspects  of  the  movement,  from  Eastern 

mysticism  to  Wicca,  claim  to  be  following  ancient  faiths.  Moreover,  while  people 

typically  adhere  to  particular  path,  such  as  Wiccan,  this  chosen  identity  does  little  to  keep 

them  from  borrowing  the  practices  of  other  religions,  ranging  from  Hinduism  to  Sufi 

Islam  to  ancient  Gnosticism.  These  shared  features,  however,  are  not  merely  a  means  of 


29 


Heelas,  18-28;  Kyle,  52;  Faber,  1-16;  Melody  Baker,  15-16. 


236 
imposing  order  on  a  mass  of  unconnected  faiths.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  responsible  for 
the  diversity  of  the  New  Age  Movement.30 

The  New  Age  Movement's  history  of  eclecticism  and  philosophy  of  self- 
spirituality  made  it  attractive  to  hoodooists.  Priestess  Miriam  Chamani  is  an  excellent 
example  of  an  African- American  Voodoo  practitioner  who  draws  heavily  from  New  Age 
philosophy.  Born  into  a  family  of  Mississippi  Baptists,  Chamani's  first  step  on  the  path 
toward  Voodoo  came  out  of  her  experience  in  the  Spiritual  Church,  which  commonly 
utilizes  herbal  medicine  and  recognizes  the  existence  of  many  spirits.31  She  began 
practicing  Voodoo  in  1975.  Though  her  introduction  to  Voodoo  came  from  traditional 
sources,  she  has  nevertheless  incorporated  New  Age  self-spirituality  into  her  own  beliefs 
and  practices.  For  instance,  when  the  author  asked  whether  she  had  been  initiated  into  the 
religion,  she  replied  that  life  initiates  people,  who  are  driven  by  "thoughts  far  beyond 
their  birthing."32  Further  elaborating,  she  stated  that  withdrawal  from  the  church  allows 
greater  freedom  and  self-expression.  According  to  Chamani,  submitting  to  religious 
ministers,  Christian  or  otherwise,  limits  higher  expressions  of  God.  She  has  also 
incorporated  other  elements  of  New  Age  philosophy  into  her  practice.  Chamani 


30Heelas,  18-28,  225-226;  Kyle,  18-20, 41-55;  J.  Gordon  Melton,  et  al.,  New  Age 
Encyclopedia:  A  Guide  to  the  Beliefs,  Concepts,  Terms,  People,  and  Organizations  That 
Make  up  the  New  Global  Movement  Toward  Spiritual  Development,  Health  and  Healing, 
Higher  Consciousness,  and  Related  Subjects  (Detroit  and  London:  Gale  Research,  Inc., 
1990),xv-xviii. 

3 'The  Spiritual  Church  is  not  to  be  confused  with  white  spiritualism.  For  more  on 
the  Spiritual  Church,  see  Conclusion. 

32Miriam  Chamani,  priestess  of  Voodoo  Spiritual  Temple,  interview  by  author,  15 
November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio  recording,  personal  collection, 
Birmingham,  AL. 


237 
described  a  vision  she  claimed  to  have  had.  In  the  vision,  she  looked  ahead  and  saw 

many  paths  branching  before  her.  When  she  looked  behind,  she  discovered  that  the  many 

paths  were  actually  only  one.  Chamani  interpreted  her  experience  as  a  representation  of 

the  oneness  of  all  religious  faiths.33 

Hoodoo  gained  more  than  just  new  concepts  from  the  movement.  New  Age 
religions  proved  to  be  a  fertile  field  for  the  recruitment  of  new  believers.  Initially, 
hoodoo  did  not  attract  members  of  a  movement  designed  to  be  countercultural.  After  all, 
it  had  long  been  a  part  of  American  culture  and  had  become  deeply  infused  with 
Christianity.  More  important,  like  most  whites,  New  Agers  were  not  familiar  with 
African- American  culture.  During  the  1980s  and  early  1990s,  however,  increasing 
numbers  of  New  Agers  turned  to  African- American  belief  systems  for  spiritual  growth. 
Within  a  worldview  that  advocates  self-spirituality  and  religious  relativism, 
condemnation  of  African- American  magic  proved  impossible.  On  the  contrary,  New 
Agers  now  see  it  as  a  worthy  source  for  personal  spiritual  development.  The  result  has 
been  an  influx  of  white  hoodoo  practitioners,  a  revival  of  African  religious  elements  in 
hoodoo,  and  a  tendency  to  merge  conjure  with  a  variety  of  other  magical  and  religious 
traditions. 

One  of  the  best  examples  of  New  Age  Voodooists  is  Reverend  Claudia  Williams. 
Like  most  New  Age  conjurers,  she  is  white.  Furthermore,  she  began  her  involvement  in 
alternative  religions  as  a  Wiccan.  After  a  time,  she  found  it  boring.  She  says  that,  unlike 
Wicca,  Voodoo  is  complex  and  grows  with  the  practitioner.  Her  magical  practice 


33Chamani,  interview  by  author;  "Voodoo  Spiritual  Temple"  Brochure  (New 
Orleans:  Voodoo  Spiritual  Temple). 


238 
consists  primarily  of  private  "spellwork"  for  clients,  whose  needs  generally  involve  love, 

protection,  or  money.  Like  Voodooists  of  the  nineteenth  century,  she  claims  to  work 

most  closely  with  gods  originating  in  Africa.  Her  closest  relationships  are  reportedly  with 

Oya  and  Shango,  a  goddess  and  a  god  present  in  both  Vodou  and  Santeria.  At  the  same 

time,  as  a  Minister  of  Ancient  Ways,  she  also  incorporates  elements  of  Native  American 

religions,  Hinduism,  and  other  faiths  into  her  personal  system  of  belief  and  practice.34 

Williams  is  not  alone  in  the  way  she  practices  Voodoo.  Sallie  Ann  Glassman  of 
New  Orleans,  also  a  white,  began  her  involvement  in  New  Age  and  occult  practices  as  a 
child  growing  up  in  the  Northeast.  To  her  they  seemed  too  strongly  tied  to  secrecy  and 
individual  will  and  ignored  the  needs  of  the  community.  Eventually,  she  turned  to 
Haitian  Vodou  as  an  alternative,  undergoing  initiation  as  a  mambo  in  Haiti.  Despite  her 
abandonment  of  New  Age  philosophy,  Glassman  still  shows  the  influence  of  her 
background.  For  instance,  she  gives  her  religious  affiliation  as  "Vodou  and  Jewish,"  a 
practice  in  keeping  with  the  New  Age  concept  of  religious  unity  and  relativism.35  She  has 
also  abandoned  the  Haitian  practice  of  animal  sacrifice.  Instead,  she  offers  some  of  her 
own  life  force  to  the  spirits  through  yoga.36 

S.  Jason  Black  and  Christopher  S.  Hyatt,  authors  of  Urban  Voodoo,  likewise  show 
the  influence  of  a  New  Age  background  in  their  practice.  Though  they  openly  disdain 
many  aspects  of  the  movement,  particularly  Wicca,  they  readily  incorporate  crystal  balls, 


34Claudia  Williams,  interview  by  author;  Brandon,  77. 
35A  mambo  is  a  Haitian  Vodou  priestess. 

36c 


Sallie  Ann  Glassman,  proprietor  of  Island  of  Salvation  Botanica,  interview  by 
author,  14  November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio  recording,  personal 
collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 


239 
Tibetan  Buddhist  chants,  and  European  ceremonial  magic  into  their  rituals.  Just  as 

important,  they  suggest  that  practitioners  avoid  adopting  Haitian  Vodou  with  all  of  its 

morals  and  mythology  intact.  Instead,  Black  and  Hyatt  argue  that  the  "great  virtue  of 

Voodoo  in  contrast  to  other  paths  is  direct  experience  and  the  pursuit  of  results  [through 

magic]."37  Further  keeping  within  New  Age  self-spirituality,  they  advocate  self-initiation 

over  traditional  methods.  As  is  the  case  with  Williams  and  Glassman,  Black  and  Hyatt 

are  both  white.  Like  it  or  not,  they  are  as  strongly  influenced  by  the  movement  as  any 

Wiccan.38 

Conjure  has  further  developed  by  interacting  with  the  massive  influx  of 
immigrants  whose  faith  in  supernaturalism  is  similar.  During  the  second  half  of  the 
twentieth  century,  large  numbers  of  Latin  Americans  have  immigrated  to  the  United 
States,  driven  by  a  variety  of  economic  and  political  forces.  With  them,  they  have 
brought  African-European  syncretic  religions  and  magical  traditions.  These  include 
Puerto  Rican  Espiritismo,  Cuban  Palo  Mayombe,  Mexican  curanderismo  and  brujeria, 
Haitian  Vodou,  Trinidadian  Shango,  and  Brazilian  Candomble.  In  recent  years,  however, 
the  most  influential  syncretic  faith  has  been  Cuban  Santeria.39 

Santeria,  like  Louisianan  Voodoo,  includes  a  variety  of  gods,  primarily  derived 
from  the  Yoruba  pantheon.  As  in  Africa,  these  are  arranged  in  a  hierarchical  order.  At 
the  top  presides  Olodumare,  the  remote  creator  of  the  universe,  roughly  equivalent  to  the 


37S.  Jason  Black  and  Christopher  S.  Hyatt,  Urban  Voodoo:  A  Beginner's  Guide  to 
Afro-Caribbean  Magic  (Tempe:  New  Falcon  Publications,  1995),  122. 

38Glassman,  interview  by  author;  Black  and  Hyatt,  122,  142, 179-188. 

39Brandon,  1-2. 


240 
Christian  God.  Below  Olodumare  are  the  orishas,  each  of  which  has  an  equivalent 

Catholic  saint.  Next  in  rank  are  ancestral  spirits,  collectively  known  as  eguns.  Further 

down  the  spiritual  hierarchy  are  humans,  plants  and  animals,  and  nonliving  things.  All 

life,  including  Olodumare,  is  filled  with  Ashe,  an  absolute  spiritual  force.40 

Magic  is  an  important  part  of  Santeria.  For  instance,  Santerian  priests,  known  as 
"babalawos,"  practice  divination  for  paying  clients.  One  method  involves  casting  kola 
nuts  or  their  substitutes  and  interpreting  the  resulting  pattern.  In  the  United  States,  most 
babalawos  divine  using  the  "opele,"  a  long  chain  to  which  are  attached  tortoiseshell  discs 
at  regular  intervals.  The  chains  are  typically  lowered  onto  a  flat  surface  by  practitioners, 
who  hold  them  at  their  center.  As  with  kola  nuts,  the  resulting  patterns  tell  clients' 
fortunes.  Divination  is  but  part  of  the  babalawos'  craft.  After  diagnosing  a  magically- 
induced  illness  or  other  problem  through  the  use  of  kola  nuts  or  opeles,  they  also 
prescribe  cures.  Treatments  usually  involve  rituals  and  sacrifices.  For  instance,  in  one 
case  encountered  by  Joseph  M.  Murphy,  a  young  woman  consulted  a  babalawo,  who 
discovered  that  she  had  an  ovarian  cyst  using  divination.  He  recommended  that  the 
woman  visit  a  doctor,  take  a  special  herbal  bath,  and  make  a  sacrifice  to  Oshun,  god  of 
rivers,  fresh  water,  and  erotic  love.  For  their  magical  materials,  believers  visit  botanicas, 
which  sell  statues  of  saints,  candles,  herbs,  oils,  and  other  goods.41 

Believers  in  Santeria  had  lived  in  the  United  States  since  well  before  the  twentieth 
century,  but  the  Cuban  Revolution  of  1959  boosted  their  numbers  into  the  hundreds  of 
thousands,  if  not  millions.  The  first  Cubans  to  arrive  were  generally  from  the  upper  and 


40Ibid.,  13-17,74-78. 

4lBrandon,  140-142;  Murphy,  39-48,  62-69,  181. 


241 
middle  classes.  As  time  passed,  the  socioeconomic  status  of  the  immigrants  declined. 

Most  of  those  arriving  after  1962  were  from  lower  middle-  and  working-class  families. 

By  1979,  Dade  County,  Florida,  alone  had  430,000  inhabitants  of  Cuban  origin.  Today, 

sizeable  communities  exist  throughout  the  nation,  with  particularly  high  concentrations  in 

major  cities,  including  New  York  City;  Washington,  DC;  and  Union  City,  New  Jersey. 

Cubans,  especially  those  of  the  working  class,  brought  Santeria  with  them.  Moreover,  in 

the  United  States,  many  immigrants  adopted  the  religion  as  an  important  cultural  symbol. 

The  result  has  been  an  increase  in  its  practice  amongst  Cuban  Americans.  In  addition, 

some  Americans  and  immigrants  from  other  Latin  American  nations  have  entered  the 

Santeria  fold.  According  to  George  Brandon,  "Santeria  now  almost  certainly  has  more 

devotees  in  the  United  States  than  it  had  in  Cuba  at  the  time  of  the  revolution."42 

Santeria's  similarity  to  hoodoo  has  made  it  a  support  of  older  African- American 

beliefs.  For  instance,  as  several  venerable  conjure  shops  closed  in  recent  years,  blacks 

turned  to  Santerian  botanicas.43  F  and  F  Botanica  and  Candle  Shop  in  New  Orleans  is  one 

of  the  best  examples.  The  store  was  initially  founded  in  1976  by  a  Cuban  follower  of 

Santeria,  Enrique  Cortez.  The  store  is  now  owned  by  a  Baptist  Puerto  Rican  who  says 

that  it  is  open  to  all  beliefs.  To  many  patrons,  however,  it  is  a  "hoodoo  store."44 

Santeria's  appeal  to  hoodoo  practitioners  is  sometimes  recognized  by  African- American 


42Brandon,  104-120,  quoted  104. 

43In  the  Southwest,  the  same  is  true  of  yerberias,  shops  which  serve  the  needs  of 
Mexican  practitioners  of  traditional  curanderismo  (healing)  and  brujeria  (magic).  See 
Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  159,  179-180. 

^During  my  approximately  thirty  minutes  in  the  store,  seven  patrons  visited.  All 
but  one  were  African- American. 


242 
conjurers.  According  to  Deborah,  a  "spiritual  worker"  of  Bessemer,  Alabama,  modern 

African- American  magic  is  primarily  Latin  American  in  origin.45 

Santeria  has  also  done  much  to  draw  new  believers  to  hoodoo.  While  science  and 
the  New  Age  movement  made  Voodoo  acceptable  to  many  whites,  the  growth  of  Santeria 
made  African- American  magic  and  syncretic  religions  acceptable  parts  of  black  identity. 
In  some  cases,  experience  with  successful  Santerian  rituals  persuaded  blacks  to  adopt  it  as 
a  religious  faith.  For  example,  Lorita  Mitchell  turned  to  Santeria  in  a  desperate  effort  to 
find  a  cure  for  her  son's  cancer.  Apparently  as  a  result  of  following  a  ritual  prescribed  by 
the  owner  of  a  local  botanica,  her  son's  cancer  disappeared.  Today,  both  Lorita  Mitchell 
and  her  son  are  members  of  the  Santerian  priesthood.46 

Others  turned  to  Santeria  and  other  syncretic  faiths  as  an  expression  of  black 
nationalism.  The  most  extreme  example  of  this  is  Oba  Oseijeman  Adefumni  I  and 
Oyotunji.  Adefumni  began  life  as  Walter  King  of  Detroit.  As  a  young  man,  he  traveled 
to  New  York  to  become  an  artist  and  dancer.  While  there,  he  encountered  Cuban 
adherents  of  Santeria.  Inspired  by  the  religion's  African  features,  he  became  deeply 
involved,  traveling  to  Cuba  for  initiation  as  a  priest  of  Obatala.47  Over  time,  he  became 
involved  in  the  Civil  Rights  Movement,  advocating  a  form  of  separatism  based  on 


45Brandon,  104;  Long,  Spiritual  Merchants,  255;  Figueroa,  interview  by  author; 
Jonell  Smith  and  Jazell  Smith,  members  of  St.  Benedict  Spiritual  Church,  conversations 
with  and  overheard  by  author,  15  November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio 
recording,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL;  Rod  Davis,  American  Voudou:  Journey 
into  a  Hidden  World  (Denton:  University  of  North  Texas  Press,  1999),  56-59;  Deborah, 
interview  by  author. 


4<> 


Rod  Davis,  17-59. 

47King,  unlike  most  African- Americans  who  encounter  Santeria,  did  so  before  the 
Cuban  Revolution.  See  Rod  Davis,  183-184. 


243 
Yoruba  religion.  In  time,  he  came  to  believe  that  the  movement  had  been  a  failure.  As  a 

result,  he  left  New  York  and  his  old  life  behind,  but  he  did  not  abandon  his  ideology  of 

black  nationalism.  Settling  in  South  Carolina,  he  realized  his  dream  as  the  village  of 

Oyotunji,  literally  meaning  "return  of  the  horseman"  or  "return  to  Oyo,"  a  famous 

Yoruban  city.  The  village  was  to  be  a  recreation  of  Africa  in  America.  To  this  end,  he 

declared  the  village  an  independent  nation,  adopting  the  name  Adefumni  I  and  the  title  of 

"king."  King  Adefumni  also  abandoned  the  Catholic  elements  of  Santeria  in  favor  of 

"pure"  Yoruba  religion.  Though  the  villagers  now  number  in  the  thirties,  there  were 

around  200  during  the  1970s.48 

Few  are  as  radical  in  their  response  to  Santeria  as  Adefumni.  More  typical  is  Ava 

Kay  Jones,  a  New  Orleans  Voodoo  priestess.  As  a  child  living  in  rural  New  Orleans,  she 

had  grown  up  knowing  about  hoodoo.  Enrique  Cortez,  owner  of  the  F  and  F  Botanica 

and  Candle  Shop,  however,  introduced  her  to  the  religion  of  Santeria.  Combined  with  her 

previous  knowledge  of  hoodoo,  it  became  what  author  Rod  Davis  calls  "Orisha 

Voudou."49  Jones  saw  no  reason  to  abandon  Catholicism.  As  she  explains  it,  "I  don't 

agree  with  all  the  Church  dogma,  but  if  we're  dealing  with  what  Christ  taught,  then  I'm  a 

Christian  in  that  sense."50  At  the  same  time,  Jones  demonstrates  an  attachment  to  cultural 

nationalism.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  her  leanings  was  her  initiation  as  a  priestess  of 

the  goddess  Oya.  It  took  place  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  involved  important  leaders  of 


48Rod  Davis,  177-190;  Pinckney,  135-145. 

49Davis  writes  the  term  "orisha  voudou."  I  have  chosen  to  use  "Orisha  Voodoo' 
in  keeping  with  the  principles  of  capitalizing  the  names  of  religions  and  keeping  with 
traditional  spellings  of  "Voodoo." 

50Rod  Davis,  36. 


244 
African,  Afro-Latin,  and  African- American  religions,  including  King  Adefumni.  It  was 

the  first  initiation  into  Orisha  Voodoo  carried  out  by  American  blacks.  During  the 

ceremony,  Adefumni  made  the  ceremony's  ideological  value  clear,  stating,  "All  across 

America  now  in  every  major  city  you  are  going  to  find  that  the  gods  of  Africa  have 

descended."  Using  the  language  of  the  Civil  Rights  Movement,  he  continued, 

"Gradually,  we  shall  overcome  -  through  these  initiations,  which  so  many  of  the  people, 

of  the  voudou  inside  of  the  people,  are  seeking."51  The  initiation  was  a  far  cry  from  the 

condemnatory  articles  that  once  appeared  in  The  New  Republic  and  Ebony.  Santeria  has 

helped  some  African- Americans  embrace  their  spiritual  history,  instead  of  rejecting  it  as 

superstition. 

None  of  the  three  forces  that  has  shaped  conjure  in  the  second  half  of  the 

twentieth  century  has  operated  in  isolation  from  the  others.  Instead,  a  form  of  Neo- 

Voodoo  has  developed,  characterized  by  interaction  between  them.  Many  modern 

practitioners  fuse  elements  of  science,  New  Age  philosophy,  and  syncretic  religions,  in 

lesser  or  greater  degrees,  depending  upon  their  personal  ideologies.  For  example,  Claudia 

Williams,  who  entered  Voodoo  by  way  of  the  New  Age,  encountered  Latin  American 

syncretic  religions  much  earlier.  As  a  child,  she  lived  above  a  Santerian  botanica. 

Though  she  was  interested  in  the  faith  and  learned  much  about  it,  her  parents  did  not 

encourage  her.  Similarly,  although  James  McTeer  generally  explained  the  success  of 

rootwork  in  terms  of  parapsychology  and  psychology,  he  was  also  strongly  attached  to 

several  New  Age  concepts.  In  Fifty  Years  as  a  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  he  expressed 


51Ibid.,  28-38,  299-312,  quoted  310. 


245 
belief  in  the  unity  of  all  religions  through  a  universal  "Supreme  Force,"  in  reincarnation, 

and  in  a  variety  of  other  features  common  in  Eastern-influenced  New  Age  philosophy.52 
Just  as  the  three  forces  which  compose  Neo-Voodoo  have  interacted  among  each 
other,  so  have  they  contributed  to  traditional  forms  of  hoodoo.  For  instance,  Catherine 
Yronwode,  owner  of  the  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company,  sells  products  "made  the  way  they 
were  made  in  your  grandma's  day  --  the  way  they  SHOULD  be  made  today."53  At  the 
same  time,  she  also  stocks  items  aimed  at  believers  in  Latin  American  syncretic  faiths.54 
Yronwode  also  practices  tantric  yoga,  an  Indian  form  of  sacred  sex  strongly  linked  to 
New  Age  philosophy  in  the  United  States.  Today,  even  tourist  hoodoo  draws  on  Neo- 
Voodoo.  According  to  the  website  of  the  New  Orleans  Historic  Voodoo  Museum,  the 
source  of  Voodoo's  power  is  Kundalini,  a  supposed  "river"  of  energy  that  flows  through 
each  individual.  The  concept  of  Kundalini  originated  in  India  and  is  strongly  tied  to 
various  forms  of  yoga.  The  website  goes  on  to  proclaim  that  "everything  you  do  is  to  lift 
yourself  to  higher  consciousness."55  In  addition,  New  Orleans  draws  many  Neo- 


52Claudia  Williams,  interview  by  author;  McTeer,  Low  Country  Witch  Doctor,  12- 
14,27,79-85,95-105. 

"Catherine  Yronwode,  "Anointing  Oils,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company  Website, 
1995-2002,  <http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatoils.html>  (29  July  2002). 

54Yronwode  is  not  alone  in  her  willingness  to  sell  products  associated  with 
Santeria.  Virtually  all  hoodoo  shops  stock  items  tied  to  Santeria  and  other  syncretic 
faiths,  particularly  saint  candles. 

55Banks  Griffen  and  Dane  Reugger,  "What  Is  Voodoo?,"  1997,  The  New  Orleans 
Historic  Voodoo  Museum  Website,  <http://www.voodoomuseum.com/whats.html>  (29 
July  2002). 


246 
Voodooists,  who  benefit  from  the  city's  position  as  the  most  important  center  of  tourist 

Voodoo.  The  influence  of  Neo- Voodoo  is  virtually  inescapable.56 

Despite  its  pervasive  influence,  the  eclectic  character  of  Neo- Voodoo  ensures  that 

its  adherents  will  differ  on  a  variety  of  issues.  For  instance,  practitioners  disagree  over 

the  terms  they  apply  to  themselves,  the  sources  of  their  powers,  and  the  number  of 

believers.  In  some  cases,  such  disagreements  have  developed  into  schools  of  thought. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  divisions  is  between  those  who  seek  to  practice  historical 

hoodoo  and  those  who  are  willing  to  incorporate  outside  ideas.  For  some,  like  Jason 

Black,  hoodoo  is  just  a  part  of  a  much  broader  occult  worldview.  As  a  result,  they  see  no 

reason  to  draw  sharp  distinctions  between  conjure  and  other  non-black  occult  practices. 

Others  maintain  that  hoodoo  is  best  approached  in  a  "purer"  form.  For  instance,  while 

Jason  Black  carried  out  his  own  initiation,  Ava  Kay  Jones  and  Sallie  Ann  Glassman 

underwent  traditional  inductions  into  Voodoo.  Glassman,  a  white,  even  traveled  to  Haiti 

to  study  Vodou.  When  she  was  ready,  priests  initiated  her  into  the  religion.  According  to 

her,  "priests"  and  "priestesses"  who  have  not  undergone  traditional  initiations  are  frauds. 

The  most  extreme  version  of  purist  Voodoo  is  that  practiced  by  Oyotunji's  Oba 


"Catherine  Yronwode,  "Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Co.,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company 
Website,  1995-2002,  <http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html>  (29  July 
2002);  Catherine  Yronwode,  "Catherine  Yronwode,"  Lucky  Mojo  Curio  Company 
Website,  1995-2002,  <http://www.luckymojo.com/cat.html>  (29  July  2002);  J.  Gordon 
Melton,  et  al.,  New  Age  Encyclopedia:  A  Guide  to  the  Beliefs,  Concepts,  Terms,  People, 
and  Organizations  That  Make  up  the  New  Global  Movement  Toward  Spiritual 
Development,  Health  and  Healing,  Higher  Consciousness,  and  Related  Subjects  (Detroit 
and  London:  Gale  Research,  Inc.,  1990),  s.v.  "Kundalini  Yoga,"  by  Aidan  A.  Kelly. 


247 
Oseijeman  Adefumni  I,  who  aims  to  eliminate  all  non- African  influences  on  Yoruba 
religion  as  part  of  his  separatist  ideology." 

Racial  issues  have  further  separated  practitioners.  White  Voodooists  and 
conjurers  see  hoodoo  as  a  multicultural  practice  open  to  all  races.  According  to  many 
African- Americans,  however,  hoodoo  is  part  of  their  cultural  heritage  and  therefore 
forbidden  to  outsiders.58  Phoenix  Savage,  a  Pennsylvania-born  hoodooist,  writes,  "I 
would  suspect  that  I  better  represent  hoodoo  than  the  New  Age  white  folks  running  a 
hoodoo  business.  I  rather  resent  those  types,  from  a  cultural  sense  of  things."59  At  times, 
race-based  disagreements  deteriorated  into  near  violence.  Sallie  Ann  Glassman  reports 
that  some  African- Americans  oppose  her  performance  of  public  Voodoo  ceremonies, 
sometimes  turning  to  insults  and  intimidation  to  dissuade  her.  Followers  of  Louis 
Farrakhan,  leader  of  the  Nation  of  Islam,  have  also  threatened  her  by  e-mail.  A  common 
theme  of  these  verbal  and  written  assaults  is  that  whites  should  not  practice  a  black 
religion.  Both  sides  of  the  dispute  dearly  hold  to  their  beliefs.  Still,  virtually  all 
hoodooists  of  both  races  have  a  multicultural  clientele.  More  important,  those  willing  to 
threaten  the  other  side  are  a  minority.  Thus  far,  no  one  has  been  physically  harmed  in  the 
dispute.60 


"Black  and  Hyatt,  1 17-125;  Rod  Davis,  299-312;  Glassman,  interview  by  author. 

58Please  note  that  this  disagreement  is  not  universal.  For  example,  Miriam 
Chamani  asserts  that  Voodoo  knows  no  race.  See  Chamani,  interview  by  author. 

59Phoenix  Savage,  <phoenix300us@yahoo.com>  "Re:  A  question  on  hoodoo,"  10 
July  2002,  personal  e-mail  (10  July  2002).  I  have  made  a  few  spelling  corrections  in  this 
quotation. 

^Phoenix  Savage,  interview  by  author;  Glassman,  interview  by  author. 


248 
The  future  role  of  conjure  in  American  society  remains  undetermined.  In  addition 
to  internal  differences  in  ideology,  both  Neo-Voodoo  and  traditional  hoodoo  remain 
objects  of  attack.  For  example,  in  1990,  Mother  Jones  published  a  brief  article,  entitled 
"The  War  on  Voodoo,"  which  addressed  Voodoo,  Santeria,  and  related  beliefs  from  the 
assumption  that  they  were  types  of  black  magic  tied  to  the  drug  trade.  In  2001,  director 
Spike  Lee  attacked  Hollywood's  depictions  of  what  he  called  "the  super-duper,  magical 
Negro,"  in  movies  like  The  Green  Mile  and  The  Legend  of  Bagger  Vance.61  He  argued 
that  such  characters,  who  generally  helped  whites  with  their  supernatural  powers, 
distracted  from  real  social  issues  and  were  thus  a  form  of  racism.  Meanwhile,  laws 
against  practicing  medicine  without  a  license,  mail  fraud,  and  the  like  continue  to  work 
against  conjure,  even  though  they  are  enforced  less  rigorously  than  they  once  were.62 

Despite  continuing  threats  to  hoodoo,  its  expansion  beyond  the  bounds  of  African- 
American  society  is  helping  to  preserve  it  for  future  generations.  Some  practitioners  even 
argue  that  the  United  States  is  in  the  midst  of  an  African- American  magical  renaissance. 
According  to  Catherine  Yronwode,  along  with  growing  Latin  American  and  white 
participation,  many  blacks  are  returning  to  conjure  as  a  link  to  their  history.  Deborah 
confirms  Yronwode' s  statements.  According  to  her,  hoodoo  is  stronger  now  than  it  was 
ten  years  ago.  In  fact,  she  entered  the  craft  in  order  to  combat  evil  witchcraft,  which  she 
believed  had  become  a  major  problem  by  the  mid-1980s.  Although  conjure  continues  to 
face  attacks  from  without  and  dissention  within,  the  forces  of  modern  science,  New  Age 


Rails. 


61"Lee  Rails  against  Hollywood,"  The  Gainesville  Sun,  7  February  2001. 
"Lynda  Gorov,  "The  War  on  Voodoo,"  Mother  Jones,  June  1990,  12;  "Lee 


249 
philosophy,  and  Latin  American  syncretic  religions  have  helped  it  adapt  to  a  new 
century.63 


63 


Yronwode,  interview  by  author;  Deborah,  interview  by  author. 


CONCLUSION 
THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  CONJURE  IN  AFRICAN- AMERICAN  SOCIETY 

For  too  long,  conjure  has  remained  an  obscure  topic  in  American  history. 
Nevertheless,  it  has  been  a  significant  part  of  the  black  experience.  As  was  true  with 
other  features  of  African- American  society,  hoodoo  grew  out  of  slavery.  Together,  the 
experiences  of  slave  raids,  the  Middle  Passage,  and  the  rigors  of  involuntary  labor 
guaranteed  that  the  African  way  of  life  could  not  survive  intact  in  the  New  World.  Like 
the  African- American  culture  of  which  it  was  a  part,  conjure  emerged  as  a  composite  of 
European,  Native  American,  and  African  elements.  At  the  same  time,  whites  have 
persistently  sought  to  suppress  the  practice.  Nevertheless,  hoodooists  have  continued  to 
command  great  respect  within  their  communities,  even  as  old-fashioned  conjure  evolved 
into  modern  consumer  hoodoo.  Today,  many  blacks  and  whites  still  turn  to  African- 
American  magic  as  a  source  of  both  spiritual  enlightenment  and  practical 
supernaturalism. 

In  a  time  when  magic  is  largely  discredited  as  a  valid  practice  and  many  scholars 
eschew  religious  faith,  the  study  of  conjure  can  seem  unprofitable.  Some  might  consider 
it  a  perpetuation  of  old  stereotypes  that  depict  blacks  as  slaves  to  superstition.  The  truth 
is  far  more  complex.  Conjure  has  served  a  variety  of  functions  within  African- American 
society  and  played  a  pivotal  role  in  shaping  other  aspects  of  black  culture.  Hoodoo's 
power  was  not  just  a  figment  of  African- Americans'  imagination.  On  the  contrary, 
widespread  belief  made  it  an  effective  force,  even  among  many  whites.  Conjurers  could 

250 


251 
use  pharmacologically  active  herbs  to  treat  illness,  psychology  to  ease  mental  ailments, 

fear  to  bring  about  the  deaths  of  enemies  and  acquittals  at  trials,  or  good  advice  to 

encourage  patrons  to  succeed  on  their  own.  Whatever  their  tactics,  they  had  genuine 

power  to  help  people  achieve  a  variety  of  ends,  ranging  from  the  mundane  to  the 

seemingly  impossible.  At  the  very  least,  they  gave  their  clients  hope  for  success,  spurring 

them  to  continue  their  efforts.1 

Because  of  the  authority  and  reputation  it  gave  to  individuals,  hoodoo  became  an 

important  force  for  social  regulation.  For  instance,  reliance  on  magic  for  vengeance 

helped  limit  the  use  of  violence  to  settle  disputes.  During  the  antebellum  period, 

conjurers  helped  slaves  cope  with  lives  of  servitude  by  providing  roots  that  allegedly 

prevented  whippings,  powders  designed  to  give  them  control  over  their  masters,  and  a 

variety  of  similar  charms.  Slaves  could  even  buy  "poisons"  which  promised  to  sicken  or 

kill  their  owners.2  With  such  magical  powers  at  their  disposal,  physical  violence  was 

often  unnecessary.  A  more  recent  example  of  conjure's  function  was  that  of  John  and 

Leroy  Ivy,  who  attempted  to  kill  Judge  Thomas  Gardner  UJ  of  Tupelo,  Mississippi,  in 

1989.  Their  motivation  was  revenge  for  the  judge's  sentencing  of  John  Ivy  to  forty  years 

in  prison  on  robbery  charges.  Rather  than  taking  the  direct  route  of  murder,  the  Ivys 

turned  to  hoodoo.  Doubtless,  they  believed  it  would  be  easier  to  carry  out  a  murder  by 

magic  than  by  physical  force.  The  plot  collapsed  after  they  asked  the  judge's  black 


See  the  previous  chapters  for  examples  of  such  cases. 

2Doubtless,  some  conjurers  sold  genuine  poisons,  but  most  probably  relied  on 
magic  to  harm  their  victims. 


252 
housekeeper  to  supply  them  with  a  lock  of  his  hair  and  a  photograph.  The  Ivy's  were 

soon  arrested  on  charges  of  conspiracy  to  commit  murder.3 

Conversely,  fear  of  conjure  has  probably  dissuaded  some  from  taking  actions  that 
might  result  in  a  magical  counterstroke.  In  parts  of  South  Carolina,  for  example,  people 
would  threaten  to  "go  to  Beaufort"  on  those  who  made  them  angry.4  The  significance  of 
the  statement  was  that  Beaufort  was  the  home  of  Dr.  Buzzard.  Similarly,  the  common 
nineteenth-century  practice  of  isolating  suspected  hoodooists  from  the  rest  of  the 
population  was  an  example  of  avoiding  offense  by  limiting  conjurers'  social  contact  with 
the  rest  of  the  community.5 

Stories  about  conjure  also  served  as  a  means  of  communicating  societal  values. 
One  striking  example  was  a  tale  collected  by  Elon  Ali  Kulii.  According  to  an  informant 
living  in  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  her  grandmother  once  had  an  acquaintance  who 
romantically  pursued  a  man  who  had  no  interest  in  her.  Although  her  friends  advised  her 
to  give  up,  she  turned  to  an  "herb  doctor"  for  help.  He  gave  her  a  powder  to  sprinkle 
along  the  path  that  the  man  usually  followed  to  and  from  work.  The  spell  seemed  to  work 
just  as  the  woman  intended.  Soon,  the  man  was  madly  in  love  with  her.  The  relationship 
quickly  led  to  marriage.  After  about  six  months,  however,  the  woman  realized  that  she 
did  not  love  her  husband  as  much  as  she  thought.  She  soon  began  to  "fool  around"  with 
another  man.  Her  dalliance  did  not  last  long.  One  day  her  husband  walked  in  on  her  and 


3Wyatt-Brown,  313,  315-316,  424-425;  "Special  Judge  Hears  Case:  Two  Blacks 
Face  Murder  Charges  in  Voodoo  Scheme,"  Jet,  17  July  1989,  52-53.  Unfortunately,  I 
have  been  unable  to  discover  the  result  of  the  Ivy  trial. 

'Fields,  121. 

5Bass,  "Mojo,"  83. 


253 
her  lover.  In  a  jealous  rage,  he  killed  them  both.  Clearly,  the  morals  of  the  tale,  passed 
down  to  the  young  and  inexperienced,  are  to  let  love  follow  its  own  course  and  to  remain 
faithful  to  one's  spouse.6 

What  historically  distinguished  hoodoo  from  other  forms  of  magic  was  its  role  as 
a  tool  of  an  oppressed  race.  Among  the  black  populace,  conjure  was  thought  to  be  a 
source  of  protection  against  abuse  by  slave  masters  and  unfair  employers,  economic 
success  in  a  white-dominated  business  world,  and  hope  to  those  charged  with  crimes 
under  the  Jim  Crow  justice  system.  From  the  standpoint  of  conjurers,  the  profession 
allowed  them  to  assume  a  variety  of  roles  otherwise  closed  to  them  by  economics  and 
white  prejudice.  For  example,  as  herbal  healers,  hoodooists  filled  the  role  of  medical 
doctors.  African- Americans  were  pitifully  poor  between  the  Civil  War  and  Civil  Rights 
Movement.  They  could  seldom  afford  the  charges  of  university-trained  physicians.  The 
only  viable  alternatives  were  rootworkers.  Hoodooists  have  also  filled  the  roles  of 
psychiatrists  for  those  who  could  not  call  upon  the  services  of  mental  health 
professionals.  Likewise,  during  the  Jim  Crow  era,  African-Americans  required  all  the 
legal  help  they  could  get,  yet  the  study  of  the  law  was  all  but  denied  blacks.  Once  again, 
hoodooists  filled  the  void,  providing  those  who  believed  in  magic  with  spells  to  sway 


6Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo,"  357-358.  One  of  the  first  authors  to  investigate  the 
social  function  of  conjure  was  Leonora  Herron,  whose  "Conjuring  and  Conjure  Doctors" 
appeared  in  1891.  According  to  Herron,  blacks'  unbounded  faith  in  magic  was  a  way  of 
procuring  justice  in  an  unjust  system.  See  Herron,  117-118. 


254 
judges,  juries,  and  law  enforcement  officials.  In  short,  conjurers  were  the  poor  man's 
doctors,  psychiatrists,  and  lawyers.7 

Because  of  hoodoo's  many  uses,  conjurers  often  attained  positions  of  great 
influence.  For  instance,  during  the  days  of  slavery,  conjurers  frequently  became 
community  leaders,  respected  for  their  knowledge  and  feared  for  their  occult  power. 
Moreover,  many  whites  also  held  hoodooists  in  high  regard.  After  all,  crossing  a  conjurer 
might  result  in  poisoning.8 

After  emancipation,  wealth  also  followed  hoodooists.  In  the  1930s  black  tenant 
farmers  could  expect  to  make  as  little  as  $1.50  a  week  for  backbreaking  labor.  Even 
those  who  labored  in  relatively  high-paying  northern  factories  rarely  made  more  than 
$20.00  a  day.  Moreover,  black  workers  were  more  vulnerable  to  retrenchment  than  their 
white  counterparts.  At  the  very  least,  hoodooists  entered  the  middle  class  as  self- 
employed  professionals.  In  many  cases,  they  did  much  better.  Conjurers  like  Jean 
Bayou,  Julius  P.  Caesar,  Dr.  Buzzard,  and  James  Jordan,  generally  made  more  each  day 
than  the  highest  paid  black  factory  workers  did  in  a  week.9  In  some  cases,  successful 
conjurers  could  make  more  in  a  day  than  a  black  tenant  farmer  could  in  a  year.  Not  only 
did  their  wealth  surpass  that  of  almost  all  other  African- Americans,  it  also  elevated  them 
well  above  the  economic  status  of  the  vast  majority  of  whites.  Even  today,  Elon  Kulii 
affirms  that  many  root  doctors  have  become  millionaires.  He  estimates  that  the  hoodoo 


7Puckett,  167-169,  207-209,  259-262.  For  another  early  discussion  of  the 
conjurers'  multiple  roles,  see  William  Edward  Burghardt  Du  Bois,  "The  Religion  of  the 
American  Negro,"  New  World  9  (1900):  614-625. 

8Wyatt-Brown,  424-425;  Izard,  160. 

9For  details  on  these  particular  conjurers'  incomes,  see  Chapters  2  and  3. 


255 
industry  generated  $3,000,000,000  annually  during  the  late  1970s.  Furthermore,  as 

during  the  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries,  economic  prosperity  continues  to 
bring  social  prominence.  Modern  hoodooists,  like  Master  Bishop  Robinson,  remain 
widely  respected  members  of  their  communities.10 

In  reference  to  African- Americans,  discussions  of  equality  are  usually  conducted 
along  the  lines  of  race.  Nevertheless,  equality  between  the  sexes  has  long  been  an  issue 
for  both  blacks  and  whites.  In  the  antebellum  South,  "respectable"  white  women  seldom 
worked  outside  the  home.  Property  restrictions,  strict  control  of  female  sexuality,  and  a 
lack  of  political  opportunity  were  even  more  prevalent.  Although  the  period  since  the 
Civil  War  has  been  one  of  enormous  change  in  white  females'  political,  sexual,  and 
economic  positions  in  American  society,  the  separation  between  the  private  female  and 
public  male  has  remained  strong.  While  women  have  historically  failed  to  achieve  full 
equality  with  men,  African- American  women  proved  unable  to  reach  a  parity  with  their 
white  counterparts.  Despite  emancipation  and  the  passage  of  the  Nineteenth  Amendment, 
black  females  were  unable  to  vote  in  substantial  numbers  until  the  overthrow  of  Jim 
Crow  during  the  1960s  and  1970s.  In  addition,  they  were  even  less  likely  to  hold  high- 
status  jobs  than  white  women.  In  the  South,  black  women  could  most  commonly  be 
found  working  as  tenant  farmers,  domestic  servants,  and  laundresses,  professions 
shunned  by  the  vast  majority  of  whites.  As  was  true  with  men,  women  had  little 


10Pinckney,  102, 1 19-120,  149-150;  Johnson,  46,  60;  Hearn,  "The  Last  of  the 
Voudoos,"  726-727;  Hyatt,  Hoodoo-Conjuration-Witchcraft-Rootwork,  1642;  Jacqueline 
Jones,  Labor  of  Love,  Labor  of  Sorrow:  Black  Women,  Work,  and  the  Family  from 
Slavery  to  the  Present  (New  York:  Vintage  Books,  1995),  128,  166-167,  206-207; 
Carmer,  215-218;  Puckett,  207-209;  Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo,"  151-152;  Robinson, 
interview  by  author. 


256 
opportunity  to  improve  their  economic  standing.  For  instance,  Mississippi's  female 

domestics  earned  an  average  of  $2.00  each  week  for  labor  from  sunup  to  sundown  during 

the  1930s.  Even  when  black  women  held  the  same  jobs  as  whites,  they  usually  received 

much  lower  wages. ' ' 

Conjuring  was  one  of  the  few  professions  that  allowed  women  to  escape  the 

domestic  ideal  and  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  menial  labor.  While  women  by  no  means 

comprised  the  majority  of  hoodoo  practitioners,  they  were  highly- visible  members  of 

blacks'  magical  world.  For  instance,  when  Zora  Neale  Hurston  interviewed  New  Orleans 

conjurers  for  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  she  spoke  primarily  to  men.  Nevertheless,  Ruth 

Mason,  a  female  hoodooist,  carried  out  the  most  powerful  and  involved  ritual  in  which 

Hurston  participated.12  In  addition,  all  five  of  the  male  conjurers  with  whom  she  spoke 

willingly  instructed  her  in  their  craft.  Also,  she  reported  that  "practically  all  of  the 

hoodoo  doctors  of  Louisiana"  relied  on  spells  traditionally  attributed  to  the  female 

Voodoo  queen,  Marie  Laveau.13  A  1987  incident  graphically  illustrated  the  sexual  parity 

within  conjure.  Tommy  Lee  Berry  and  his  wife,  "Mama  Betty"  Berry,  had  once  operated 

a  successful  rootworking  business  in  the  town  of  Blakely,  Georgia.  After  their  marriage 


"Jacqueline  Jones,  44-151,  196-231.  For  full  discussions  of  women's  roles  in 
American  and  southern  society  see  Sara  M.  Evans,  Born  for  Liberty:  A  History  of  Women 
in  America  (New  York  and  London:  The  Free  Press,  1989);  Anne  Firor  Scott,  The 
Southern  Lady:  From  Pedestal  to  Politics,  1830-1930  (Chicago  and  London:  University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1970);  Cynthia  Fuchs  Epstein,  Woman 's  Place:  Options  and  Limits  in 
Professional  Careers  (Berkeley,  CA,  Los  Angeles,  and  London:  University  of  California 
Press,  1970). 

12This  spell  was  a  dance  before  an  image  of  death.  The  intended  result  was  the 
death  of  a  client's  former  lover. 

13Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  327. 


257 
ended  in  divorce,  both  spouses  continued  to  practice  hoodoo.  Unfortunately  for  Mama 
Betty,  she  competed  too  successfully  against  her  former  husband.  Tommy  Lee  gunned 
her  down  after  she  answered  the  door  for  two  women  seeking  the  aid  of  a  "spiritual 
advisor."  Despite  the  unfortunate  consequences  for  Mama  Betty,  conjure  has  been  an 
equal  opportunity  employment.14 

In  addition  to  conjure's  social  functions,  it  has  also  contributed  strongly  to  other 
aspects  of  African- American  culture,  most  notably  the  arts,  language,  and  religion.  The 
art  most  strongly  affected  by  hoodoo  has  been  music.  Songs  referring  to  conjure  were 
already  in  circulation  by  the  nineteenth  century.  Some  of  these  were  designed  to  ward  off 
evil  magic.  A  worker  from  the  Federal  Writers  Project  recorded  one  such  song  during  the 
1930s.  It  went,  "Keep  'way  from  me,  hoodoo  and  witch,  Lead  my  path  from  de 
porehouse  gate;  I  pines  for  golden  harps  and  sich,  Lawd,  I'll  jes'  set  down  and  wait.  Old 
Satan  am  a  liar  and  a  conjurer,  too-If  you  don't  watch  out,  he'll  conjure  you."15  Others 
told  stories  of  conjure.  Henry  F.  Pyles  remembered  an  example.  The  words,  which 
recounted  the  process  by  which  a  nineteenth-century  hoodooist,  named  "Old  Bab,"  made 
his  charms,  were: 


14Hurston,  "Hoodoo  in  America,"  326-327,  357-360,  362-363,  368-371,  380-382, 
387-388,  390-391;  '"Root  Doctor'  Held  in  Murder  of  His  Former  Wife"  Jet,  1  June 
1987,  29.  Works  aimed  at  a  popular  audience,  such  as  Stars  Fell  on  Alabama  and 
Charles  W.  Chesnutt's  The  Conjure  Woman,  gave  women  an  even  more  important  role  in 
conjuring.  The  popular  image  of  conjurers  as  female  reflects  European  beliefs  about 
witchcraft,  which  was  strongly  associated  with  women.  See  Levack,  124-131. 

15Willis  Easter,  interview  by  Federal  Writers  Project  employee  (Texas),  The 
American  Slave:  A  Composite  Autobiography,  George  P.  Rawick,  ed.,  (Westport: 
Greenwood  Publishing  Company,  1972),  vol.  4,  part  2,  3;  quoted  in  Albert  J.  Raboteau, 
Slave  Religion:  The  "Invisible  Institution  "  in  the  Antebellum  South  (Oxford  and  New 
York:  Oxford  University  Press,  1978),  286. 


258 

Little  pinch  o'  pepper, 
Little  bunch  o'  wool. 

Mumbledy-mumbledy. 

Two,  three  Pammy  Christy  beans, 
Little  piece  o'  rusty  iron. 

Mumbledy-mumbledy. 

Wrop  it  in  a  rag  and  tie  it  with  hair, 
Two  from  a  hoss  and  one  from  a  mare. 

Mumbledy,  mumbledy,  mumbledy. 

Wet  it  in  whiskey 

Boughten  with  silver; 

That  make  you  wash  so  hard  your  sweat  pop  out, 

And  he  come  to  pass,  sure! 16 

Such  songs  foreshadowed  blues  music  about  hoodoo.  Among  the  more  than  one  hundred 
blues  songs  addressing  conjure  were  many  by  such  prominent  artists  as  "Blind  Lemon" 
Jefferson,  Muddy  Waters,  and  Louis  Jordan.17 

African- American  visual  art  and  literature  have  also  been  influenced  by  conjure. 
For  example,  rootwork  featured  prominently  in  the  works  of  Sam  Doyle,  a  recently- 
deceased  folk  artist  from  Beaufort,  South  Carolina.  One  of  Doyle's  best-known  paintings 
was  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Buzzard.  Conjurers  have  also  been  common  in  African- American 
literature.  In  the  1899  book,  The  Conjure  Woman,  Charles  W.  Chesnutt  told  of  Uncle 
Julius,  a  prolific  teller  of  conjure  tales,  and  his  relationships  with  whites.  Chesnutt's 
stories,  which  often  depict  the  hardships  of  slavery,  were  also  an  implicit  critique  of 
America's  racist  society.  Today,  nationalist  authors,  such  as  poet  Ishmael  Reed,  depict 


16Botkin,  29. 

17See  Catherine  Yronwode,  "Blues  Lyrics  and  Hoodoo. 


259 
hoodooists  as  tricksters  who  undermine  white  power  with  magic.  One  need  not  be  a 

nationalist,  however,  to  use  conjurers  in  one's  writing.  For  many  female  African- 
American  authors,  conjure  women  are  examples  of  powerful,  independent  black  women. 
Alice  Walker's  The  Third  Life  of  Grange  Copeland  provides  an  example.  One  character, 
Sister  Madelaine,  is  a  two-headed  doctor,  who  uses  her  income  from  conjure  and 
fortunetelling  to  send  her  son  to  college.  Though  the  son  initially  disdains  his  mother's 
"superstition,"  he  comes  to  admire  her  profession  and  its  attendant  power  after  joining  the 
Civil  Rights  Movement.  A  similar  character  appears  in  Toni  Morrison's  Sula.  Like 
Sister  Madelaine,  Morrison's  conjurer  is  a  strong  black  woman.  Even  the  book's 
narrator,  who  ostensibly  condemns  her  as  evil,  nevertheless  expresses  her  admiration  for 
the  hoodooist's  knowledge,  child-rearing  skills,  magical  acumen,  and  even  physical 
appearance.18 

Language  is  another  aspect  of  black  culture  that  has  been  influenced  by  conjure. 
Words  like  "hoodoo,"  "Voodoo,"  and  "mojo"  have  become  household  words,  even 
amongst  whites.  Similarly,  the  pejorative  terms,  "hoochie-choochie  woman"  and 
"hoochie  choochie  man,"  originally  referred  to  hoodoo  practitioners.  Today,  however, 
they  are  more  commonly  used  as  insults  applied  to  the  sexually  immoral.  More 
distinctive,  however,  are  phrases  derived  from  hoodoo  that  have  lost  their  original 


18Kyoichi  Tsuzuki,  Sam  Doyle  (Books  Nippan,  1990);  Chesnutt,  v-xix,  36-63, 
103-131;  Lindroth,  185-196;  Reed,  Mumbo  Jumbo;  Reed,  Conjure:  Selected  Poems, 
1963-1970;  Houston  A.  Baker,  Jr.,  Workings  of  the  Spirit:  The  Poetics  of  Afro-American 
Women 's  Writing  (Chicago  and  London:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1991),  97-99;  Alice 
Walker,  The  Third  Life  of  Grange  Copeland  (New  York:  Harcourt,  Brace,  Jovanovich, 
1970);  Toni  Morrison,  Sula  (New  York:  Knopf,  1974).  See  also  Marjorie  Pryse  and 
Hortense  J.  Spillers,  ed.,  Conjuring:  Black  Women,  Fiction,  and  Literary  Tradition 
(Bloomington:  Indiana  University  Press,  1985). 


260 
significance.  An  informant  interviewed  by  Elon  Kulii  in  1977,  stated  that  she 
commended  hosts  who  prepared  especially  good  meals  by  stating,  "this  is  so  good  you 
must  have  peed  in  this."19  As  the  informant  recognized,  the  phrase  derived  from  black 
women's  practice  of  urinating  into  the  food  that  they  were  preparing  for  husbands  or 
lovers.  By  doing  so,  they  believed  that  their  men  would  be  unable  to  leave  them  for  other 
women.  The  much  more  common  phrase,  "I'll  fix  you,"  probably  originated  in  conjure. 
Although  it  now  is  a  general  term  meaning  that  the  speaker  will  take  revenge  on  the 
listener,  it  initially  referred  to  the  conjuring  term,  "fixing,"  a  word  for  laying  curses.20 

Conjure  has  had  its  greatest  influence  on  religion.  According  to  theologian 
Theophus  Smith,  it  has  affected  virtually  all  African-Americans'  worldviews.  In 
Conjuring  Culture,  he  maintained  that  conjure  must  be  understood  as  more  than  sorcery.21 
Smith  argued  that  blacks  used  hoodoo  as  a  means  of  magically  healing  or  transforming 
society.  The  Bible  was  the  primary  means  of  carrying  out  the  reshaping.  An  example  of 
Biblical  conjuring  was  blacks'  emulation  of  Jesus.  According  to  Smith,  they  did  not  act 
simply  in  imitation.  Instead,  African- Americans  hoped  to  leam  how  Christ  used  his 


19Kulii,  "A  Look  at  Hoodoo,"  264.  The  informant's  earlier  statements  indicate 
that  she  referred  to  a  compliment  used  by  other  African- Americans. 

20Major,  Juba  to  Jive,  109,  208,  239-240,  306-307,  496-497;  Kulii,  "A  Look  at 
Hoodoo,"  261-264. 

2 'To  stress  his  broader  definition  of  conjuring,  Smith  uses  "conjuror"  rather  than 
the  standard  "conjurer"  to  designate  hoodoo  practitioners.  He  adopts  this  title  for  its 
implications  of  exhortation  rather  than  simply  casting  of  spells. 


261 
victimization  to  change  his  oppressors.  This  potentially  world-changing  power  of  conjure 
made  it  a  vital  force  during  the  Civil  Rights  Movement  and  has  kept  it  important  today.22 

While  Smith's  theological  work  applies  to  all  black  Christians,  some 
denominations  had  much  stronger  and  more  visible  links  to  conjure.  The  nominally 
Christian  Spiritual  Church,  founded  in  New  Orleans  in  1920,  has  been  the  sect  most 
strongly  influenced  by  hoodoo.  Many  of  the  denomination's  largely  independent 
congregations  accept  much  of  mainstream  Christian  doctrine,  including  a  slightly- 
modified  version  of  the  Apostle's  Creed,  renamed  the  "Divine  Spiritual  Creed."  At  the 
same  time,  they  all  incorporate  a  variety  of  distinctly  non-Christian  beliefs,  including 
reincarnation.  One  reason  for  the  Spirituals'  unorthodox  views  is  that  their  denomination 
is  a  mixture  of  many  influences,  including  Catholicism,  Pentecostalism,  and  white 
spiritualism.  The  impact  of  hoodoo  and  Voodoo,  however,  is  evident  throughout  the 
faith.  For  instance,  the  chief  feature  which  sets  Spirituals  apart  from  orthodox  Christians 
is  their  belief  in  a  host  of  spirits,  which  often  possess  members  of  the  congregation  during 
services.  In  addition,  as  in  Voodoo  these  spirits  frequently  carry  the  names  of  saints. 
While  they  have  lost  any  African  names  they  once  had,  their  numbers  include  a  variety  of 
spirits  who  have  little  to  do  with  Catholicism.  The  most  important  of  these  is  Black 


22Theophus  Smith,  3-15, 183-205.  Smith  divided  his  book  into  three  parts.  Each 
part  was  subdivided  into  chapters  in  which  he  examined  particular  books  and  sets  of 
books  from  the  Bible  and  their  conjuring  use.  The  first  part  dealt  with  ethnographic 
issues.  Here,  Smith  contended  that  Genesis,  Exodus,  and  the  Law  defined  African- 
Americans'  magical  cosmogony,  belief  in  conjuring  God  for  freedom,  and  curing  for 
violence.  In  Part  II,  Smith  suggested  that  the  Bible's  Spirituals  (Psalms),  Prophecy,  and 
Wisdom  defined  blacks'  theories  of  aesthetics  and  vocations  and  their  worldview.  The 
last  part  was  his  argument  that  the  Gospels,  Praxis  (Book  of  Acts),  and  Apocalypse 
shaped  African- American  theology  on  curing  violence,  acts/activism,  and 
judgement/revelation. 


262 
Hawk,  an  Indian  spirit  once  associated  with  Voodoo.  Others  include  White  Hawk,  Father 
Jones,  St.  Expedite,  and  a  variety  of  deceased  Spiritual  Church  leaders.  Some  even 
recognize  "Mother"  Marie  Laveau  as  an  early  church  founder.23 

Spirituals  also  engage  in  much  hoodoo-like  magic.24  For  example,  the  church's 
spiritual  advisors  use  the  supernatural  to  heal  paying  clients  of  various  ailments.  In  many 
cases,  the  ministers  discover  that  their  clients  have  "unnatural"  illnesses  brought  on  by 
possession  by  evil  spirits  or  diabolic  witchcraft.  Some  also  aid  those  facing  legal  trouble 
by  performing  rituals  or  making  charms.  Such  magic  is  also  present  during  regular 
church  services.  During  a  Spiritual  "cleansing  service"  witnessed  by  the  author,  those 
being  purged  of  evil  spirits  stood  upon  a  folded  white  cloth.  Then,  a  church  leader  struck 
each  person  with  white  flowers  that  had  been  dipped  in  a  basin  containing  salt  water.  Salt 
had  long  been  a  protective  agent  in  African- American  conjure.  Church  leaders  also 
recommended  that  members  use  floor  washes  to  protect  themselves  at  home  and  that  they 
secretly  mix  various  spiritual  products  in  their  children's  bath  water  to  help  them  grow  to 
be  good  people.25 

Despite  the  similarities  among  hoodoo,  Voodoo,  and  the  Spiritual  Church,  many 
church  members  deny  that  their  beliefs  have  anything  to  do  with  the  older  practices.  On 
the  contrary,  Bishop  Barbara  Gore,  current  leader  of  the  St.  Benedict  Spiritual  Church, 


"Jacobs  and  Kaslow,  30-48,  74,  125-148,  209. 

24Please  note  that  spiritualists  do  not  refer  to  such  practices  as  magic.  To  them,  it 
is  simply  part  of  the  dealings  with  spirits  common  in  their  faith.  I  use  "magic"  for  the 
term's  simplicity  and  the  consequent  ease  with  which  it  can  be  compared  with  hoodoo. 

25 Jacobs  and  Kaslow,  149-169;  Barbara  Gore,  bishop  of  St.  Benedict  Spiritual 
Church,  interview  by  author,  1 1  November  2001,  New  Orleans,  LA,  notes  and  audio 
recording,  personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 


263 
argues  that  Voodoo  was  and  is  an  evil  practice.  According  to  her,  although  Spiritual 
ministers  and  Voodooists  use  some  of  the  same  magical  materials,  the  former  use  them 
only  for  good.  While  Voodoo  calls  on  evil  spirits,  Spirituals  rely  only  on  benevolent 
ones.  Like  many  modem  African- American  magical  practitioners,  members  of  Spiritual 
churches  have  distanced  themselves  from  terms  that  white  society  has  traditionally 
defined  as  evil,  including  "hoodoo,"  "Voodoo,"  and  "conjure."  The  change  in 
terminology,  however,  has  not  drastically  altered  their  magical  practices.26 

The  Spiritual  Church  was  not  alone  in  its  incorporation  of  conjure  into  its 
religious  rituals.  Black  Pentecostalism  has  also  been  influenced  by  African- American 
magic.  Pentecostalism  grew  out  of  the  nineteenth-century  Holiness  Movement.  Like 
mainstream  Protestantism,  the  Holiness  Movement  stressed  personal  salvation  through 
belief  in  Jesus  Christ.  Unlike  other  Protestants,  however,  it  also  advocated  the  doctrine  of 
sanctification,  a  process  by  which  believers  progressively  became  more  holy  through  the 
development  of  their  faith.  Though  initially  operating  within  established  denominations, 
including  the  Baptists  and  Methodists,  the  Holiness  Movement  took  an  independent 
course  during  the  1890s.  Proponents  of  holiness  chose  this  avenue  in  order  to  protest  the 
increasing  liberalism  and  modernism  of  the  mainstream  churches.  As  part  of  its  rejection 
of  modernism,  the  movement  turned  to  older  forms  of  rural  folk  Christianity,  including  an 
emphasis  on  emotion.  One  consequence  was  that  the  movement  began  to  appeal  to 


26, 


Gore,  interview  by  author. 


264 
African-Americans.  In  fact,  the  first  legally  chartered  holiness  church  in  the  South  was  a 
black  congregation  of  the  Church  of  God  in  Christ.27 

From  this  milieu  arose  Pentecostalism.  Among  its  chief  early  proponents  was 
William  J.  Seymour,  a  former  black  Texan  Baptist.  He  first  gained  national  attention  by 
presiding  over  a  series  of  interracial  revivals  at  the  Azusa  Street  Mission  of  Los  Angeles, 
California.  These  revivals  were  the  first  stirrings  of  what  would  emerge  as  the 
Pentecostal  movement.  Its  stress  on  the  "baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  set  it  apart  from  the 
Holiness  Movement.  This  baptism  gave  believers  the  ability  to  produce  signs  of  their 
sanctification,  such  as  the  gifts  of  tongues,  healing,  and  prophecy.28 

Today,  approximately  20  percent  of  all  American  Pentecostals  are  African- 
American.  Pentecostalism's  large  black  membership,  along  with  its  stress  on  spiritual 
gifts,  opened  it  to  contributions  from  conjure.  Like  members  of  Spiritual  churches  and 
believers  in  hoodoo,  Pentecostals  often  saw  illness  in  terms  of  demonic  influence. 
Similarly,  ministers  and  other  church  leaders  were  often  the  tools  by  which  such  maladies 
could  be  cured,  sometimes  through  the  use  of  materials  associated  with  hoodoo,  including 
oils.  In  addition,  many  believed  that  major  early  leaders  of  the  Pentecostal  movement 
possessed  objects  imbued  with  supernatural  power.  William  J.  Seymour,  for  instance, 
reputedly  owned  a  glass  eye  which  he  used  to  perform  magic.  Another  prominent  leader, 


27Yvonne  Patricia  Chireau,  "Conjuring:  An  Analysis  of  African  American  Folk 
Beliefs  and  Practices"  (Ph.D.  diss.,  Princeton  University,  1994),  248-257;  Vinson  Synan, 
The  Holiness-Pentecostal  Tradition:  Charismatic  Movements  in  the  Twentieth  Century, 
2nd  ed.  (Grand  Rapids  and  Cambridge:  William  B.  Eerdmans  Publishing,  1997),  70-71. 

28Chireau,  248-257. 


265 
Charles  Harrison  Mason,  used  roots  to  supposedly  discern  God's  will,  a  practice  already 
familiar  to  those  who  had  experience  with  hoodoo.29 

Conjure-like  practices  continue  in  some  churches  even  today.  According  to  Jonell 
Smith,  the  pastor  of  one  of  New  Orleans'  Full  Gospel  churches  uses  magic  in  his 
services.  Smith,  a  member  of  a  Spiritual  church,  was  upset  by  what  she  saw  as  hypocrisy 
on  the  part  the  leadership  of  the  rival  church.  While  Spirituals  openly  deal  with  spirits, 
the  leaders  of  the  Full  Gospel  Church  condemn  the  practice  while  surreptitiously  doing 
the  same.  The  only  major  difference,  according  to  Smith,  is  that  while  Spirituals  use  saint 
candles  and  herbs,  the  Full  Gospel  Church  uses  birthday  candles  and  olive  oil.  As 
Smith's  experience  demonstrates,  hoodoo  survives  in  the  seemingly  most  unlikely  of 
places.30 

The  failure  of  historians  to  recognize  the  significance  of  hoodoo  has  been  a 
mistake.  First,  it  has  been  a  constant  presence  from  colonial  times  to  the  present. 
Throughout  American  history,  conjure  has  been  a  source  of  healing,  luck,  financial 
success,  love,  and  revenge  for  clients.  Today,  it  can  also  be  a  form  of  New  Age 
spirituality  or  an  expression  of  black  nationalism.    For  practitioners,  it  has  historically 
been  a  path  to  wealth  and  power.  At  present,  the  spiritual  products  industry  generates 
millions,  if  not  billions,  of  dollars  in  revenue.  In  addition,  hoodoo  is  both  one  of  black 
Americans'  strongest  links  to  their  African  past  and  a  powerful  case  study  in  the  impact 


29Chireau,  257-267;  Grant  Wacker,  Heaven  Below:  Early  Pentecostals  and 
American  Culture  (Cambridge  and  London:  Harvard  University  Press,  2001),  65,  91-92, 
104-105,  153,  206-207,  226-235;  Synan,  167-186. 

30Smith  and  Smith,  conversations  with  and  overheard  by  author. 


266 
of  European  and  Native  American  ideas  on  black  culture.  Finally,  its  social  functions  and 
pervasive  impact  on  other  aspects  of  African- American  culture  cannot  be  ignored. 

The  influence  of  conjure  on  African- American  society  and  culture  is  difficult  to 
underestimate,  but  the  most  compelling  reason  for  its  study  is  that  it  is  an  ongoing 
practice.  A  1995  article  in  Florida's  St.  Petersburg  Times,  reported  that  court  case  spells 
were  common  in  Miami,  home  to  both  hoodoo  and  recent  imports  like  Santeria  and 
Haitian  Vodou.  Kenneth  Ausly,  investigator  for  the  district  attorney  of  Alabama's 
Monroe  and  Conecuh  counties,  confirmed  that  many  African- Americans  relied  on  court 
case  magic  in  his  state,  as  well.  On  a  darker  note,  Josephine  V.  Gray,  of  Germantown, 
Pennsylvania,  has  been  under  investigation  twice  in  the  last  eleven  years  for  crimes 
connected  with  the  death  of  two  former  husbands  and  a  lover.  Though  she  allegedly 
committed  her  first  murder  in  1974,  she  escaped  prosecution  for  more  than  twenty-five 
years.  As  one  of  the  prosecutors  explained,  "There  is  a  very  unusual  type  of  witness 
intimidation  that  had  occurred  in  this  case,  which  was  the  idea  that  Josephine  Gray  had 
the  ability  to  practice  black  magic  or  witchcraft  or  voodoo."31  An  assistant  agreed, 
stating,  "Fear  permeated  this  entire  case."32  As  incidents  like  that  involving  Josephine 
Gray  demonstrate,  conjure  is  unlikely  to  disappear  anytime  soon.33 


31"Md.  Woman  Facing  Murder  Charges  Again,"  The  Washington  Post,  5  January 
2002,  Bl. 

32Ibid. 

33"Where  the  Best  Defense  Is  a  Good  Hex,"  St.  Petersburg  Times,  10  April  1995, 
IB,  5B;  Kenneth  Ausly,  investigator  for  the  district  attorney  of  Alabama's  Monroe  and 
Conecuh  counties,  interview  by  Eugenia  Brown,  26  June  2002,  Owassa,  AL,  notes, 
personal  collection,  Birmingham,  AL. 


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BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Jeffrey  Elton  Anderson  was  born  on  October  5,  1974,  in  Mansfield,  Ohio.  While 
growing  up  in  Fayette  County,  Alabama,  he  attended  public  elementary  and  high  schools, 
graduating  in  1993.  In  1997,  he  received  a  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree  in  history  from 
Samford  University.  After  finishing  his  undergraduate  work,  he  enrolled  in  the  history 
graduate  program  at  the  University  of  Florida.  He  received  his  Master  of  Arts  in  history 
in  late  1999  and  was  admitted  as  a  Doctor  of  Philosophy  candidate  in  2000. 

Jeffrey  Anderson  currently  resides  in  Birmingham,  Alabama,  where  he  is  a  part- 
time  instructor  in  history  at  Samford  University. 


294 


I  certify  that  I  have  read  this  study  and  that  in  my  opinion  it  conforms  to 
acceptable  standards  of  scholarly  presentation  and  is  fully  adequate,  in  scope  and  quality, 
as  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Bertram  Wyatt-Bro^h,  Chair 
Eminent  Scholar  of  History 

I  certify  that  I  have  read  this  study  and  that  in  my  opinion  it  conforms  to 
acceptable  standards  of  scholarly  presentation  and  is  fully  adequate,  in  scope  and  quality, 
as  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Co  ■  ^ s — — ^g= 

W.  Fitzhugh  Brundage 
Professor  of  History 

I  certify  that  I  have  read  this  study  and  that  in  my  opinion  it  conforms  to 
acceptable  standards  of  scholarly  presentation  and  is  fully  adequate,  in  scope  and  quality, 
as  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 


j-.  ^jt^^A—duxL^ 


Jpn  F.  Sensbach 

Associate  Professor  of  History 


I  certify  that  I  have  read  this  study  and  that  in  my  opinion  it  conforms  to 
acceptable  standards  of  scholarly  presentation  and  is  fully  adequate,  in  scope  and  quality, 
as  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Alice  Freifeld  r 

Associate  Professor  of  History 

I  certify  that  I  have  read  this  study  and  that  in  my  opinion  it  conforms  to 
acceptable  standards  of  scholarly  presentation  and  is  fully  adequate,  in  scope  and  quality, 
as  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 


David  G.  Hackett 

Associate  Professor  of  Religion 


This  dissertation  was  submitted  to  the  Graduate  Faculty  of  the  Department  of 
History  in  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  and  to  the  Graduate  School  and  was 
accepted  as  partial  fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

December  2002 


Dean,  Graduate  School 


.P5T7 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 


3  1262  08555  0324